Pluto
A spacecraft is zooming toward Pluto to learn more about the solar system.
Before You Read
Ask: What do you know about our solar system? What do you know about the former planet
Pluto? Why might it take a spacecraft a long time to reach Pluto?
Share Information
- Very little is known about Pluto. It is more than 3 billion miles away, which is much too far to be seen in detail with telescopes from Earth.
- NASA, the U.S. space agency, launched New Horizons from Cape Canaveral, Florida. In 2015, the 1,054-pound spacecraft will get as close as 6,200 miles from Pluto's surface.
- After the spacecraft flies past Pluto, it will take pictures of the Kuiper (KIGH-per) Belt. The Kuiper Belt is a region of millions of icy and rocky objects that orbit the sun in the far reaches of the solar system.
- Many scientists believe that objects in the Kuiper Belt are leftovers from the formation of the sun and planets about 4.6 billion years ago.
Think Critically
Why might scientists want to learn more about our solar system?
Extend the Lesson
Ask students to imagine that the spacecraft has finished gathering information about Pluto. Have each student write a story about what scientists learn from the mission.
Web Resource
For more about Pluto, visit www.nasa.gov.
A spacecraft named New Horizons recently blasted off from Florida. The craft is speeding toward Pluto, our solar system's farthest planet from the sun. The trip is a long one – about 3 billion miles in nine and a half years.
If all goes well, New Horizons will fly by Pluto in 2015 to take photos. All the information it gathers will be beamed to Earth.
Pluto has not been explored by a spacecraft. Scientists hope the mission will help them learn more about the planet. They think it holds clues about how our solar system was formed.