Let's Swing by Jupiter on the Way

New Horizons is on it's way to Pluto. (And, no, I had nothing to do with it). Because it was able to launch today and wasn't forced to launch in, say, early February, it will be able to use Jupiter's gravity to sling-shot it Pluto and arrive 5 years earlier than it would have without Jupiter's help. And this baby is booking on it's own - it will only take 9 hours to get to the Moon and one year to get to Jupiter. After that, it's a 9 year road to Pluto. This will be the first probe to visit Pluto, which has been the subject of some controversy the last few years. Will Pluto become the Ceres of the Kuiper belt? Or will Xena, Sedna, and Easterbunny become planets?

Once New Horizons is done with Pluto, it's off to the the Kuiper belt, where Pluto's cousins live. What it learns about Pluto, it's moon Charon, and the Kuiper belt may put the controversy to rest - or it may fuel it anew. See you in ten years!