The last planet in the solar system: visiting Pluto

Abstract

When the New Horizons Spacecraft was launched on January 19, 2006 the
NASA press release said: "... headed for a distant rendezvous with the
mysterious planet Pluto almost a decade from now".  But even travelling
at nearly 16 km/s New Horizons could not keep up with modern science
and will never reach the "planet" Pluto. Planet or otherwise, Pluto is
a keystone of the Kuiper belt. Come learn what scientists are hoping
to learn from New Horizons, what we have learned from the Kuiper belt
and discuss what might have trigger the emergence of life on Earth.