New Horizons Spacecraft Launch, 2006
Smoke and steam fill the launch pad as NASA's New Horizons spacecraft roars into the blue sky aboard an Atlas V rocket. Liftoff was on time on 1/19/06 at 2 EST, from Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This was the third launch attempt in as many days after scrubs due to weather concerns. After its launch aboard the Atlas V, the compact, 1,050-pound piano-sized probe got a boost from a kick-stage solid propellant motor for its journey to Pluto. New Horizons is the fastest spacecraft ever launched, reaching lunar orbit distance in just nine hours. It passed Jupiter 13 months later.
Size: 2118px × 3000px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2006, 21st, 41, american, atlas, canaveral, cape, center, century, complex, exhaust, exploration, florida, gases, horizons, institute, jupiter, kennedy, ksc, launch, launching, liftoff, nasa, pad, pluto, probe, research, rocket, satellite, southwest, space, spacecraft, spaceflight, states, technological, technology, united, unmanned, usa
