Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto by Alan Stern, David Grinspoon

Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto by Alan Stern tells the incredible story of the first mission to explore the faraway world of Pluto with the help of a team of scientists led by renowned planetary scientists Alan Stern. The book tells the story of the mission from its planning and engineering phases to the incredible discoveries made at the unexplored dwarf planet. It includes incredible images from the mission and interviews from the people involved in making the mission happen.

The mission to explore Pluto began in 2006, with a team of scientists led by Alan Stern. The mission was one of the most ambitious space exploration attempts due its distance from Earth, 9 billion miles away. Stern and his team of NASA scientists and engineers worked together to create the spacecraft, New Horizons, and design the complicated mission to make it all the way to Pluto.

The New Horizons spacecraft was designed with the capabilities to explore Pluto and other objects in the Kuiper Belt. It was the first spacecraft to ever visit Pluto, giving people around the world a glimpse of the world beyond our own. After numerous calibrations and tests to ensure the spacecraft and mission were ready to undertake the challenge, New Horizons made its way out of Earth’s orbit.

When the spacecraft was only three and a half years into its journey to Pluto, it reached a major milestone: it had finally traveled far enough away from Earth’s gravity to successfully enter into the orbit of Pluto. Achieving this milestone was a source of great pride and celebration for the team behind the mission. The spacecraft was able to send back stunning images of the faraway world and achieve its goal of capturing the close-up images of Pluto and its moons that the team had been hoping for.

The images sent back by New Horizons showed a world unlike any other. Not only were there new landscapes and mountains, but the team discovered several points of interest like nitrogen glaciers and a strange dark region that could have indicated the presence of organic materials. The mission’s findings also revealed mysterious signs of a geologic past on Pluto, and an interesting atmosphere composed of nitrogen and methane.

Throughout the book, Stern details the various challenges and successes the team faced in their journey to Pluto, from limited fuel supply to the fear of a dust storm damaging the instruments. He also includes interviews from various team members, NASA scientists, and engineers involved in the mission, discussing their thoughts on the mission and the mission’s success.

Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto by Alan Stern is the inspirational and thrilling story of the first successful mission to Pluto. With the incredible images sent back by New Horizons and the amazing discoveries made on the journey, Stern and his team have made a lasting impact in furthering our knowledge of our universe. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in space exploration and the powerful stories of human exploration and discovery.