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b'The New Horizons mission was a triumph, revealing Pluto as an utterly unique and beautiful world. But the mission first had to survive challenge after challenge, fighting to be developed, meeting a nearly impossible launch deadline, and then narrowly avoiding disaster when it was barely a week from its destination. The entire dramatic tale has now been told by Principal Investigator Alan Stern and his co-author, astrobiologist David Grinspoon.\\xa0 They join Mat Kaplan to talk about their book, Chasing New Horizons\\u2014Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto.\\xa0 A signed copy of the book will go to the winner of this episode\\u2019s space trivia contest.\\xa0 Emily Lakdawalla has returned from an international gathering of Mercury scientists with a special report.\\xa0 The Planetary Society\\u2019s Senior Editor also marks the launch of a Chinese lunar orbiter.\\xa0 Learn more about this week\\u2019s topics and see images here: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/show/2018/0523-stern-grinspoon-chasing-new-horizons.html'