| .....Originally
designated the Pluto Fast Flyby (PFF),
the Pluto Kuiper Express mission is
designed to fly by and make studies of
the planet Pluto and its satellite Charon
in 2012 and fly on to encounter one or
more of the large bodies in the Kuiper
belt beyond the orbit of Pluto. Its major
science objectives are to: (1)
characterize the global geology and
geomorphology of Pluto and Charon; (2)
map the composition of Pluto's surface;
and, (3) determine the composition and
structure of Pluto's atmosphere. The
mission is intended to reach Pluto before
the tenuous Plutonian atmosphere can
refreeze onto the surface as the planet
recedes from the Sun. Studies of the
double-planet system will begin 12-18
months prior to closest approach. Most
aspects of the mission are still under
study and subject to change. .....The overall
structure of the spacecraft is an
aluminum hexagonal bus with no deployable
structures. Of the total 220 kg mass of
the spacecraft, only about 7 kg will
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