On Jan. 19, 2006, clouds part as NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft roars into the blue sky after an on-time liftoff at 2 p.m. EST aboard an Atlas V rocket from Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The compact, 1,050-pound piano-sized probe got a boost from a kick-stage solid propellant motor for its journey to Pluto.
New Horizons is intended to pass within 6,200 miles of Pluto, at about 7:50 a.m. EDT on July 14, 2015. The spacecraft will have a relative velocity of 30,800 mph at its approach and will come as close as 17,000 miles to Pluto’s largest moon, Charon.
NASA will provide flyby coverage on NASA Television, the agency’s website and its social media accounts as the spacecraft closes in on Pluto in the coming days. The schedule for event coverage is subject to change, with daily updates posted online and in the New Horizons Media Center at APL.
Image Credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley
Image gallery: New Horizons’ images of Pluto.
Complete schedule of NASA TV coverage and media activities for New Horizons’ Pluto flyby.