TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 The Voyage Begins 5 PERSON OF IMPACT Alan Stern 10 CHAPTER 2 Speedy Spacecraft 13 CHAPTER 3 Pluto Discoveries 19 FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY Taking Photos in Space 24 CHAPTER 4 An Amazing Atmosphere 27 CHAPTER 5 Pluto's Moons 31 CHAPTER 6 The Next Target 37 CHAPTER Back to Pluto 43 Focus on Voyage to Pluto 46 Glossary 47 To Learn More 48 Index 48
CHAPTER 1 THE VOYAGE BEGINS July 14 2015 was an exciting day for astronomers After traveling through space for more than nine years the New Horizons probe had finally reached Pluto It was the first time in history that a probe had visited the dwarf planet Sending a spacecraft to Pluto was not easy Scientists first thought of a mission to Pluto in the 1960s and 1970s They planned for the spacecraft to visit other planets along the way New Horizons was launched into space using an Atlas rocket V
