<font color="yellow"> New Horizon is heading for the Kuiper Belt, not the Oort cloud. <br />It would take centuries to get there! </font><br /> At 550 AU the Kuiper Belt & the Oort Cloud are the same thing. we could get there in less that 20 years using a MItEE Powered probe.<br /><br /><font color="orange"> The MITEE engine appears to be very promising for<br />future robotic and human exploration missions in the<br />Solar System and beyond to interstellar space. It has<br />unique capabilities and can carry out many important<br />scientific missions that are impossible using chemical<br />or Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) engines.<br />The high thrust and lightweight of the MITEE engine<br />enable it to land and take off from the surfaces of<br />planets and moons. By replenishing H2 propellant<br />from in-situ water ice, or by using the atmosphere, it<br />can hop to and explore many different sites on a<br />planet or moon, to collect samples, which then can be<br />returned to Earth. The MITEE engine can also be<br />configured as a nuclear ramjet, to fly for years in the<br />atmospheres of Jupiter and the other giant planets,<br />transmitting real time data on the atmosphere<br />behavior back to Earth.<br />Besides the ability to perform unique missions such<br />as those listed above, the MITEE engine also enables<br />much shorter mission trip times than are possible<br />using chemical or NEP engines. For missions to near<br />interstellar space, a spacecraft employing a high<br />thrust MITEE burn on a close approach to the Sun<br />could travel out of the Solar System at 30 AU per<br />year, reaching the Kuiper Belt in only 2 years, the<br />Heliopause in 3 years, and the Gravitational Lensing<br />Point at 550 AU in 18 years<br />Because of the already existing extensive NTP<br />technology base, and its relatively simplicity of<br />design and operation, the MITEE engine could be<br />ready for mission implementation in the 2010 to 2015<br />AD timeframe, wi</font> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>