A special panel of the National Academy of Sciences that was formed to advise NASA on a planetary science strategy for the next 10 years ranked the exploration of Pluto and Kuiper Belt Objects as its highest scientific priority. New Horizons will implement that recommendation and be the first spacecraft to visit and perform scientific studies of our last planet, Pluto.

The New Horizons spacecraft is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral, FL in January 2006, and will take advantage of planetary positioning by using Jupiter to “slingshot” it towards Pluto. New Horizons will reach Jupiter approximately 13 months after launch, and will fly 3 to 4 times closer to the gas giant than the Cassini spacecraft. During the brief encounter with Jupiter, New Horizons’ arsenal of scientific instruments will be exercised and tested, obtaining extraordinary scientific data on the biggest planet in our solar system. After the Jupiter fly-by, New Horizons will enter “hibernation” mode and prepare itself for the long journey to Pluto. It is scheduled to make its first contact with Pluto in the year 2015.

MATRIC is part of the team led by Titan Corporation to perform as much as $200M in IV&V services over 5 years across every mission within NASA including the International Space Station, Space Shuttle and interplanetary spacecraft.

For more information about the First Mission to the Last Planet, visit the New Horizons web page at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu.