I'm almost too nervous to watch these launches now.  I can't imagine how it must feel when you've spent a good part of your life working on the project, I think i'd be a jibbering wreck 

As Harlan Ellison once said, everyone is entitled to an INFORMED opinion.

Someone should write that the "gun" is aimed right at the activists and their collective paranoia and ignorance.

Who said that?

Btw, it's the very same launch pad both Voyager's used 1977 (and both Viking's did in 1975).

I'm checking out the really wonderful Expendable Launch Vehicle Countdown Portal at KSC's website, and there's a lot of info there, but I'm finding it confusing.  Can someone help straighten me out?

- First of all, the clock showing GMT and EST time shows 18:00 GMT when my own clock shows 10:41 (PST).  So it appears that on my machine at least the applet appears to be running behind by 41 minutes.  Does anybody else see a similar delay, or is the clock on the display synchronized to yours?

- Second, the "Window opening time" is listed as 016:17:25:00, which I think is a ddd:hh:mm:ss display.  But if that's the case, that refers to a time that passed about an hour ago, and I don't think NH has launched yet   Am I reading this wrong or is the applet messed up and does anybody else see the same thing?

--Emily

Please don't tell me some group considers Pluto to be "sacred".  Other than astronomers, of course.  NH won't land on or hit Pluto anyway.

I assume it's not worth looking in detail until after launch, but are there any candidate asteroids en route to Jupiter that will be more than 1 1/2 pixels across at closest approach... the way ?Galileo? or was it Cassini did a distant flyby of asteroid Masursky?

Has anyone asked them if they know what the mission is about, why it needs nuclear power, and if they realize how tough the RTG shells are?

You have to be initiated into the Very Secret Pluto Probe Society.  Very exclusive.

Animal sacrifices, blood drinking, watching reruns of Gilligan's Island - the works.

It's the latest one they have on the NASA Web site, for some reason.  The one I posted here came via e-mail, that's why I didn't bother with the URL in the first place.

Here you go:

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/dec/H...tus_report.html

01.06.06

Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
Phone: (202) 358-5241

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Phone: (321) 867-2468

STATUS REPORT: ELV-010606

EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE STATUS REPORT

MISSION: New Horizons
LAUNCH VEHICLE: Lockheed Martin Atlas V 551 (AV-010)
LAUNCH PAD: Complex 41
LAUNCH SITE: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
LAUNCH DATE: No earlier than Jan. 17, 2006
LAUNCH WINDOW: Jan. 11 to Feb. 14, 2006

The borescope inspection of the Atlas V RP-1 propellant tank was
successfully completed this week and no defects were observed. The
results of the inspection serve to increase confidence in launch
success, but further testing and modeling of the vehicle continues in
order to provide confidence in proceeding to launch.

Launch vehicle ordnance installation will be completed today. Third
stage closeouts are scheduled for Jan. 9. The safe and arm devices
will be installed on the solid rocket boosters Jan. 10.

New Horizons spacecraft closeouts and final documentation are
scheduled for Jan. 11 to 13. The final power-on integrated test is
set for Jan. 12. The fairing doors will be installed for flight Jan.
14.

Not yet any Bush plan for Sun colonization?

What's that "Global Blah Blah Blah organization" which acknowledged Cassini???

...good contest, Emily; looking forward to seeing the results! Thanks for taking my wheedling with a grain of salt as well! (   back atcha! )

We had some dinner guests over a few months ago and, while I was enthusing about NH, one of them acutally said, "What's the point of all of this?  I thought we've already been to the *MOON*!"

For all those trinkets on board, they could have added one disk with
relevant information on humanity and our world.  Something that would
have meant something and been of use to a future discoverer.  One disk.

Does anyone know what the closest possible flyby is for any of the Galileans within the revised launch window? Curious about how much of an operational test NH's instrumentation might be able to perform there ....

Another good reason to launch on January 17 - that's when the new season of American Idol begins! 

I believe LM thinks everything is ok, but NASA want’s the extra checks. Than NASA should pay the holiday fees. If it’s LM fault, they should pay them. But simply to stand down: I don’t get it. I would volunteer to work there. With this attitude we will never go back to the moon.

Analyst

PS: I don’t blame the NH team.