New Horizons spacecraft

[dark_energy]

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/newhorizons-eis.html<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/blush.gif" /> This will be quite interesting...although by the time it actually reaches Pluto, I'll be like 28 years old. :S <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

It won't be as cool as Pluto-Kuiper Express would've been, but at least we're still going to Pluto. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> I love robotic space exploration. It stretches our horizons so far beyond what we're used to. It'll be hard waiting all those years while New Horizons cruises out to Pluto, but it'll be well worth the wait.<br /><br />There will be exciting things to watch for in the intervening years, however. In 2011, MESSENGER will become the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury, after its own very long cruise and multiple gravity assists to drop its orbit down. There should also be new rovers on Mars this decade, and of course Cassini won't finish it's primary mission until 2008 -- which means we can reasonably expect it to still be studying the Saturn system throughout the rest of the decade. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[teije]

And don't forget Rosetta that will be the first spacecraft to orbit a comet and follow it along it's fiery path to perihelion. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br />Of course for that we also have to wait until 2014... <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" />

 

[CalliArcale]

Ah, yes!<br /><br />And speaking of comets, Stardust will finally return to Earth next January to drop off a reentry capsule with its precious stardust and comet dust samples. <br /><br />EDIT: And Deep Impact, recently launched, will reach its target this July, firing a slug into the comet's nucleus to examine the results of the impact. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[gpurcell]

Don't forget about Dawn (to Certes and Vesta)! That has the potential to be a very cool mission indeed!

 

[CalliArcale]

D'oh! I did forget! Thanks for the reminder. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> I know there have got to be lots of other interesting programs still going on.<br /><br />Mars Express, for instance, is just now getting up to speed. And Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter is the next major Mars mission planned by NASA. And a really intriguing mission that is more of a technology demonstrator is Cosmos 1 -- a solar sail. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[gregoire]

Don't forget to send your name to Pluto<br />http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ecard/sendName_ecard_content.html

 

[remcook]

next year also sees the launch of Venus Express and hopefully one of the japanese moon missions. Also, Hayabusa (Muses-C) will arrive at its target ( http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/enterp/missions/hayabusa/scenario.shtml - this is maybe outdated, but it's hard to find good info on these japanese missions)

 

[tychotospace]

and ATV for ISS nice big cargo ship. <br /><br />and an ironic is the end of MER's on mars. <br />very curious is it, When will they ends?