The first launch window for New Horizons to Pluto is now just 8 days away. New Horizons is to be the fastest craft ever launched from Earth, crossing the moon's orbit in just 9 hours. See this article at http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_awst_story.jsp?id=news/010906p1.xml for more details. Later!
J P
Eight days to Pluto Launch!
Thirteen months to Jupiter! Amazing! A shame that we couldn't use it to do some fly-by's of Uranus or Neptune. But then, this is one case where the phrase "the planets are not aligned favorably" truly applies 
...John...
...John...
"To make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe..."
--Carl Sagan
--Carl Sagan
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Topic authorPlanet X
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Dollan wrote:A shame that we couldn't use it to do some fly-by's of Uranus or Neptune.
...John...
Actually, there just might be a New Horizon 2 Uranus mission in the works. For more details, visit http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/new_horizons_040617.html. Stay tuned. Later!
J P
I think it?€™s about time. I would like to see them do this at least every ten years, but I would be a little more aggressive. I would mandate that they would have to place the Probe in a permanent orbit around the planets, and have a life span of at least 5yrs in that orbit. Granted Pluto might be a little difficult because you cannot aerobreaking but it will working fine on all the other outer planets.