New Horizons
From Slackerpedia Galactica
New Horizons is Mankind's first probe sent to the dwarf planet Pluto. Launched in January 16, 2006, it will arrive in 2015. This is due to the number of afternoon teas and naps forced into the contract by Local 403 of the International Space Telescope Union.
In order to get to Pluto, the spacecraft has to fly "up hill" and against the gravity well of the Sun. So it is using a gravity assist maneuver around Jupiter to cut 3-4 years off the travel time. Pluto is currently leaving its summer, so by getting there sooner the probe will have a better chance to analyse the atmosphere, which may eventually freeze out as Pluto moves away from the Sun. This also means that New Horizons will be traveling very fast, about 14 km/s, when it reaches Pluto. Pluto, being small, has a weak gravitational field, so there is no chance of New Horizon to go into orbit around Pluto. As a result, it will only have a few days near Pluto to snap pictures and take data before it races into the outer reaches of the solar system.
It is hoped that the trajectory and fuel status of New Horizons will allow it to be pointed near another Kuiper Belt Object after the Pluto encounter. But that will depend upon many things, including the discovery of new KBO's in the vicinity. Many a grad student is currently looking for such objects right now.
The fuel for the onboard radioisotope thermoelectric generator should last until around 2025 according to current estimates, which would put the spacecraft around 50-60 AU’s from the Sun. Or about as far as you have to park when reaching the office after 10am. So who knows what else it will visit after passing Pluto.
