On January 19, 2006, NASA launched a new spacecraft called New Horizons into outer space. New Horizons is expected to travel about 3 billion miles for 10 yeas at around 50,000 kilometers per hour and take pictures of Pluto (the last planet in the solar system), its moons, and the Kuiper (pronounced KY-purr) Belt. It will also analyze Pluto's atmosphere and temperature. Scientists say that now is our last chance to send a spacecraft to Pluto. Otherwise Pluto will become too far from Earth and it will be more difficult to get near the planet. The New Horizons mission is important because no spacecraft has ever been sent that far before. The information collected during this mission will help to explain what the outer edges of the solar system look like and how the solar system was formed 4.5 billion years ago.
* launch = 발사하다/ spacecraft = 우주선/ outer space = (대기권 외) 우주 공간/ Pluto = 명왕성/ the solar system = 태양계
