Alan Stern goes to Pluto and beyond this week on planetary radio. Hi everyone, welcome to Public Radio's travel show that takes you to the

final frontier.

I'm Ad Kaplan.

We've talked about New Horizons, the first ever mission to Pluto and its moons.

This week we hear from the source. Principal investigator Alan Stern will give us an update

on the probe and tell us what he'll be up to in the nine

years it will take to reach the ninth planet.

And let me tell you, he's a busy guy.

Emily will tell us why it's not called the Voyager anomaly in her space

Q&A contribution and Bruce Bats gives us a surf and sky report on what's up

as we give away another explorersorers Guide to Mars poster.

At the top of our space headlines is a follow-up to last week's show about the proposed NASA budget.

The agency is now getting some heat from Congress about its cutbacks in science and robotic

exploration. The Republican and Democratic heads of the House Science Committee told

NASA Administrator Mike Griffin that they were uncomfortable with the spending plans.

As the next crew of Space Shuttle Discovery prepares for launch in May or sometime after, Florida

today has reported that one of the three remaining ships may become no more

than an organ donor in 2008.

Apparently, NASA intends to cannibalize Atlantis, making it a source of spare parts for discovery and endeavor,

which will complete the International Space Station on their own.

You know we're always on the lookout for great pictures to share.

Mars Rover Opportunity had already made movies of Mars Moon's Phobos and Demos crossing in front of the sun.

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