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This computer graphics frame simulates the Pluto Fast Flyby spacecraft's encounter of the solar system's most distant planet. Pluto is the lower body, whereas its moon, Charon, is the closer body at top. Attached to the spacecraft's hexagonal composite structure are spherical propulsion tanks and, at bottom, a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to provide power at the great distance from the sun. At the very end of the RTG assembly is a set of attitude-control thrusters. The dish at upper right is the spacecraft's high-gain antenna used for contact with Earth. Science instruments are located inside the spacecraft bus; on the lefthand side of the bus are louvers used to vent heat and maintain the bus's internal temperature. This rendering shows the spacecraft's 1993 configuration. Under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a launch in 2000 or 2001, the spacecraft would pass within about 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) of Pluto and Charon between the years 2007 and 2010.
Description
This computer graphics frame simulates the Pluto Fast Flyby spacecraft's encounter of the solar system's most distant planet. Pluto is the lower body, whereas its moon, Charon, is the closer body at top. Attached to the spacecraft's hexagonal composite structure are spherical propulsion tanks and, at bottom, a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to provide power at the great distance from the sun. At the very end of the RTG assembly is a set of attitude-control thrusters. The dish at upper right is the spacecraft's high-gain antenna used for contact with Earth. Science instruments are located inside the spacecraft bus; on the lefthand side of the bus are louvers used to vent heat and maintain the bus's internal temperature. This rendering shows the spacecraft's 1993 configuration. Under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a launch in 2000 or 2001, the spacecraft would pass within about 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) of Pluto and Charon between the years 2007 and 2010.
Description
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