Which spacecraft, launched in 2006, performed a Pluto flyby in 2015 and is en route to the Kuiper Belt?

Which spacecraft, launched in 2006, performed a Pluto flyby in 2015 and is en route to the Kuiper Belt?

• A. Voyager
• B. New Horizons
• C. Cassini
• D. Pioneer 11

Answer: (B)

Understanding this question means recognizing a mission that began in 2006 and made a Pluto encounter in 2015 while continuing outward into the Kuiper Belt. That mission is New Horizons. It was launched in 2006 and performed a Pluto flyby on July 14, 2015, delivering close-up images and data of Pluto and its moons, and is now continuing its voyage through the Kuiper Belt to study icy bodies at the edge of our solar system. The other missions don’t fit: probes launched in the 1970s or 1990s were built for different destinations and never conducted a Pluto encounter or a continued Kuiper Belt trajectory. They include missions focused on planets like Jupiter, Saturn, or outer-planet flybys, not a 2006 launch with a 2015 Pluto flyby.

Understanding this question means recognizing a mission that began in 2006 and made a Pluto encounter in 2015 while continuing outward into the Kuiper Belt. That mission is New Horizons. It was launched in 2006 and performed a Pluto flyby on July 14, 2015, delivering close-up images and data of Pluto and its moons, and is now continuing its voyage through the Kuiper Belt to study icy bodies at the edge of our solar system. The other missions don’t fit: probes launched in the 1970s or 1990s were built for different destinations and never conducted a Pluto encounter or a continued Kuiper Belt trajectory. They include missions focused on planets like Jupiter, Saturn, or outer-planet flybys, not a 2006 launch with a 2015 Pluto flyby.