The New Horizons spacecraft , poised on the launch pad of Launch Complex 41, is billed as the world's fastest rocket. It's expected to pass by the planet Jupiter in just one year's time. Its final destination, planet Pluto, will add another eight to nine years of high speed flight.
The Atlas V spacecraft, pictured here, awaits launch amid the saltbush, palmetto scrub, pine trees and mangroves along the coast of the Canaveral National Seashore. This seaside, pencil-thin, strip of land stretches for more than 30 miles, from here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to New Smyrna Beach, Florida.