New Horizons launch, January 2006

I went down to Cocoa Beach / Cape Canaveral, FL, for the New Horizons launch. Launch was scheduled for January 17, with arrival at Pluto in July 2015. My first introduction to Pluto was as an summer-research student in Flagstaff in 1993; I then spent the next summer at JPL, working on the Pluto Fast Flyby (cancelled soon after). At SWRI, I've been involved for the last two years in testing and science-planning for New Horizon's imaging spectrometer, named Ralph. Now that the mission is in flight, its up-to-date location can be found from APL's trajectory page.

2021 Update: Happy Anniversary New Horizons! It's been 15 years since launch, and I have been so lucky to be involved for most of that!

My other New Horizons galleries:

• New Horizons Arrokoth Flyby, January 2019
• New Horizons Arrokoth Hazard Team Operations, November-December 2018
• Chasing a Stellar Occultation of Arrokoth across Colombia, August 2018
• Chasing a Stellar Occultation of Arrokoth across South Africa, May 2017
• New Horizons Pluto Flyby, July 2015
• New Horizons Launch, January 2006 (this gallery)
• New Horizons under construction at APL, February 2004