The rocket that will carry NASA鈥檚 New Horizons Pluto probe into space suffered damage as hurricane Wilma blew through Florida last week. However, mission managers do not think the incident was serious enough to delay the planned January launch.
The Atlas 5 rocket stands within a construction hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Florida鈥檚 east coast. As Wilma rolled though the region on 24 October, fierce 122-kilometre-per-hour winds tore holes in the hangar鈥檚 83-metre-tall door and caused minor damage to the rocket inside.
鈥淭here doesn鈥檛 appear to be much damage,鈥� says Lockheed Martin spokesperson, Julie Andrews. The Pluto mission is still scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral on 11 January 2006, says New Horizons principal investigator, Alan Stern, at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, US. The launch window will remain open until 14 February 2006.
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However, Andrews did not rule out the possibility that the date might slip. 鈥淭hey think at this point there鈥檚 probably not an impact [on the date],鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut they鈥檙e not willing to say no impact at all.鈥�
The 450-kilogram New Horizons probe itself was not affixed to the rocket during the hurricane. It rode out the storm unscathed in another hangar at NASA鈥檚 nearby Kennedy Space Center. Wilma also brought winds up to 140 kilometres per hour to KSC, although there were no reports of damage there.
Lockheed Martin officials are now trying to determine why the door failed and how the rocket was damaged. The door is made from fabric and is supposed to be able to withstand winds of up to 233 kilometres per hour.
After launch, the New Horizons will take almost 10 years to reach its destination. If the mission succeeds, it will be the first to visit Pluto and its moon, Charon. After flying by the planet, New Horizons will attempt to swoop past objects in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of comets and icy bodies that surrounds the solar system.
