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Article: Pluto or Bust.(plans for New Horizons space probe)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- November 11, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Pipsqueak planet or colossal comet? Neither? Just plain weird? One thing is certain about tiny, enigmatic Pluto. Since its discovery in 1930, it has cast a spell over both scientists and the general public. "People just love that thing," says Alan Stern, a solar system scientist who confesses to deep infatuation himself. Yet more than 13 years after the Voyager spacecraft reached Uranus and Neptune, Pluto and the realm of icy miniplanets beyond it remain unexplored, the solar system's last patch of terra incognita.
It has taken even longer to get a Pluto mission close to reality--30 years--than it will to cross the 3 billion miles to reach it. Now, finally, solar ...