Solar System Exploration 2004 - 2007
Solar System Exploration 2004 - 2007
Solar System Exploration 2004 - 2007
Right now, the most advanced scientific space fleet ever assembled is out there in our
solar system hammering away at life's biggest - and toughest - questions: Where do we
come from? Where are we going? Are we alone?
"The natural excitement that scientists feel in their continued exploration of the solar
system reaches a crescendo over the next three years," explains Dr. Ellis Miner, a planetary
scientist. "Never before have so many different spacecraft been poised to probe so many
mysteries about so many different solar system bodies over such a short time span."
Clues to these mysteries are scattered among the planets, moons, comets, and asteroids
that make up our solar system. Evidence of the earliest days of the solar system may exist
in rocks on the cratered surfaces of Mercury, Mars, and Earth's moon. Chemical clues to our origins may linger in the icy Our solar system is huge. Distances between the planets span millions and even Think About It:
hearts of comets or in the hazy atmosphere of Saturn's giant moon, Titan. billions of kilometers. Instead of writing out all those zeroes all the time, scientists
Just as the robotic spacecraft of the 1960s pioneered a safe path for astronauts to walk on the Moon, today's developed a special way to measure distances between the planets – the Is this diagram of the solar
advanced robotic explorers are charting a course that will take humanity back to the Moon and beyond. astronomical unit (AU). One AU – 150 million kilometers (93 million miles) – system to scale?
It won't be easy. These exploring machines must endure extreme heat and cold and intense radiation during long represents the average distance from the Sun to the Earth. Mars is 1.5 AU from the
journeys across mind-boggling distances. Even at speeds up to 80,400 kph (50,000 mph), a one-way ride to Pluto Sun. Saturn is 9.5 AU from the Sun. And Pluto is 39.5 AU from the Sun. What changes would you make
takes about nine and a half years. If all goes well - and there are no guarantees in space travel - we will be among the Knowing this, can you figure out the distance from Earth to Mars, then to Saturn to it?
first generations to see Pluto up close. We will have to wait until NASA's New Horizons spacecraft arrives at Pluto in and to Pluto in AU, kilometers, and miles?
2016 for that particular view. Fortunately, there's plenty to do - and to see - in the meantime.