Pluto Fast Flyby
Encyclopedia
The Pluto Fast Flyby was a space mission meant to perform a flyby of the dwarf planet
Pluto
. This spacecraft was meant to be launched by 2000 and reach Pluto by 2010, so it could examine Pluto's atmosphere
before it froze to the ground as 'snow
' as Pluto moves away from the sun. It was proposed the instruments would be a visible camera
, an infrared spectrometer
, an ultraviolet spectrometer, and a radio transmitter to send its findings back to Earth
. As Pluto takes several Earth days to rotate once, and any flyby of Pluto going at the speed it needed to reach Pluto quickly, two spacecraft would have been made to photograph both sides of Pluto
and its moon Charon
.
The Pluto Fast Flyby was later cancelled due to a lack of funding, but it was replaced by the Pluto Kuiper Express
. The Pluto Kuiper Express was cancelled for the same reasons, but another flyby mission, New Horizons
, is on its way to Pluto.
Dwarf planet
A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be spherical as a result of its own gravity but has not cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals and is not a satellite...
Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
. This spacecraft was meant to be launched by 2000 and reach Pluto by 2010, so it could examine Pluto's atmosphere
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
before it froze to the ground as 'snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
' as Pluto moves away from the sun. It was proposed the instruments would be a visible camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
, an infrared spectrometer
Spectrometer
A spectrometer is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials. The variable measured is most often the light's intensity but could also, for instance, be the polarization...
, an ultraviolet spectrometer, and a radio transmitter to send its findings back to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. As Pluto takes several Earth days to rotate once, and any flyby of Pluto going at the speed it needed to reach Pluto quickly, two spacecraft would have been made to photograph both sides of Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
and its moon Charon
Charon (moon)
Charon is the largest satellite of the dwarf planet Pluto. It was discovered in 1978 at the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station. Following the 2005 discovery of two other natural satellites of Pluto , Charon may also be referred to as Pluto I...
.
The Pluto Fast Flyby was later cancelled due to a lack of funding, but it was replaced by the Pluto Kuiper Express
Pluto Kuiper Express
The Pluto Kuiper Express mission was a space mission designed to fly by the Pluto-Charon system and at least one large object in the Kuiper belt beyond Pluto's orbit. Originally designated the Pluto Fast Flyby, it was scheduled to reach Pluto by 2012...
. The Pluto Kuiper Express was cancelled for the same reasons, but another flyby mission, New Horizons
New Horizons
New Horizons is a NASA robotic spacecraft mission currently en route to the dwarf planet Pluto. It is expected to be the first spacecraft to fly by and study Pluto and its moons, Charon, Nix, Hydra and S/2011 P 1. Its estimated arrival date at the Pluto-Charon system is July 14th, 2015...
, is on its way to Pluto.
Further reading
- The last world. (Cover Story) by Dava SobelDava SobelDava Sobel is a writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and Binghamton University...