Day: January 19, 2006

New Horizons launched

New HorizonsNASA launches the unmanned New Horizons probe on a course for the minor planet Pluto, the first spacecraft built to explore that destination. A trajectory with multiple planetary flybys and gravitational assists is designed to sling New Horizons toward Pluto within a decade (compared to Voyager 2’s 12-year trek to Neptune).

New Horizons will enter Pluto’s surprisingly complex system in 2015.