US space probe speeds toward Jupiter, en route to Pluto

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US spacecraft New Horizons is expected to pick up added momentum when it passes Jupiter next month, enabling it to hurtle toward the Pluto system for a July 2015 arrival, mission officials said. As it nears Jupiter, New Horizons' seven science instruments will gear up to study the turbulent atmosphere of this solar system's largest planet, its rings and four largest moons.

The monitoring period will stretch from January to June 2007. Touted as the fastest spacecraft ever launched by NASA and the first to eventually explore Pluto, New Horizons will make its closest approach to Jupiter on February 28. The planet's gravity will kick up its speed an additional 14,500 kilometers (9,000 miles) per hour so that it is soaring at more than 80,000 kilometers...