On Jan. 19, 2006, NASA launched a space probe the size of a golf cart on a mission to explore the farthest reaches of the solar system; its destination was the Kuiper Belt, a frigid region beyond the planets, populated with ...
Space Exploration
Jul 15, 2015
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An unmanned NASA spacecraft whizzed by Pluto, beaming to scientists a message that it survived its historic encounter before sending back the closest look ever of the distant dwarf planet.
Space Exploration
Jul 15, 2015
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In a day of both jubilation and tension, scientists anxiously waited Tuesday for NASA's New Horizons spacecraft to send word across 3 billion miles and confirm it got humanity's first up-close look at Pluto.
Space Exploration
Jul 14, 2015
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The observatory where Pluto was discovered is taking full advantage of a flyby of the icy dwarf planet Tuesday with astronomy-themed face painting, an extra Pluto presentation and a live NASA stream that will tell the world ...
Space Exploration
Jul 14, 2015
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As I began typing this column, NASA's New Horizon mission was on its final approach to its primary target, Pluto. By the time I finished composing my deathless prose, the main mission was over. And I'm not a slow writer.
Space Exploration
Jul 14, 2015
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An unmanned NASA spacecraft whizzed by Pluto on Tuesday, making its closest approach in the climax of a decade-long journey to explore the dwarf planet for the first time, the US space agency said.
Space Exploration
Jul 14, 2015
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'Here be Dragons…' read the inscriptions of old maps used by early seafaring explorers. Such maps were crude, and often wildly inaccurate.
Space Exploration
Jul 14, 2015
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In 1930, Pluto was observed for the first time. For many decades, astronomers thought that the "ninth planet of the Solar System" was a solitary object. But by 1978, astronomers discovered that it also had a moon roughly ...
Space Exploration
Jul 14, 2015
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After travelling for nearly 10 years, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is finally set to fly past Pluto in humankind's first close encounter with the dwarf planet.
Space Exploration
Jul 14, 2015
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NASA's New Horizons spacecraft was expected to get up-close and personal with Pluto on Tuesday, on track to zoom within 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) of the small icy world left unexplored until now.
Space Exploration
Jul 14, 2015
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