When the New Horizons spacecraft was launched on Jan. 19, 2006, the NASA press release said it was B次元官网网址渉eaded for a distant rendezvous with the mysterious planet Pluto almost a decade from now.B次元官网网址�

But even travelling at nearly 16 kilometres per second, the space craft will never reach its initial goal B次元官网网址� Pluto lost its planetary status in August 2006. However, it is considered a keystone object in the Kuiper belt.

At the next Caf茅 Scientifique event JJ Kavelaars of the National Research Council of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics and the University of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 physics and astronomy department will lead an informal discussion on what we know about the belt, what scientists are hoping to learn from New Horizons and what might have triggered the emergence of life on Earth.

The last planet in the solar system: visiting Pluto starts at 7 p.m. on May 8 at the Solstice Caf茅, 529 Pandora Ave.

The talk is free and open to the public.

editor@saanichnews.com