Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto
David Grinspoon / Alan Stern
On July 14, 2015, an amazing event occurred. More than 4.8 billion kilometers from Earth, a small NASA spacecraft called New Horizons raced past Pluto at more than 50,000 km/h, pointed all its instruments at mysterious icy worlds, and then continued its journey to the far reaches of the solar system. Nothing like this has happened in the memory of a generation - exploring new worlds hasn't happened since the Voyagers' missions to Uranus and Neptune - and nothing like it is planned for the future. NASA's website, dedicated to the expedition, has seen more than 2 billion people in the days before and after the flyby. And now all the details of this historic project can be learned from the accounts of its direct participants - the leader Alan Stern and other members of the team. This book is a fascinating account of scientific discovery, of decades of dedicated and persistent work, of the political battles within and around NASA, of the great skill it took to design and build the spacecraft and then send it on its way. And more about the fate of the program and what awaits us beyond new horizons.
