Actually, I was thinking much more selfishly. I want to see it myself! And a couple of it's sibling iceballs even further out. I am reminded of an old sci-fi story in one of my dad's paperbacks, that I read in the sixties. I think it was called "Far Centaurus", the author escapes me at the moment but I think it was either A. E. Van Vogt or Poul Andersen. I may not have all the details right, but as I recall, the first starship was sent to Alpha Centauri- the trip would take hundreds of years, so the crew had to hibernate during the journey. They took a drug that slowed metabolism drastically, enough to allow them to sleep for the duration of the trip (and back again, supposedly). What wasn't anticipated was technological progress after they departed- humanity actually beat them to Alpha Centauri by over a hundred years. The ship was allowed to continue on it's way unimpeded, and when it arrived, the surviving crew were given appropriate honors (in a major city!) for being brave pioneers (One had died in-transit, due to a bad reaction to the hibernation drug), though they were told they had an offensive odor and couldn't be let loose on the general public (the ultimate "old person" smell I suppose!). One day, hundreds or a thousand years from now (if we don't kill ourselves off first), a fast patrol cruiser will pull-up alongside New Horizons, or Voyager, and the crew will take it on-board. Carefully, reverently, the commander will order it stowed in the hold of her boat, for the few days journey back to earth. A few months after that it will hanging in a gallery of the National Air and Space Museum or it's future counterpart, and the tenth graders of 40 generations yet to be born will look up at it in wonder, as we would gaze at a Viking longboat today...
From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net>
Think of it this way: Kids that are in 1st grade today will see New Horizons fly by Pluto during the summer between 10th and 11th grade.
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