• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

8000 Miles Off Of Pluto's Surface. Today is the day!

tybrad

tybrad

Lunatic Member
Banned
After nine years en route, the New Horizon probe glided to within 8000 mi. of Pluto's surface. I see surface activity and impact scars. This is exciting and I eagerly await further imagery and telemetric information.

Pluto via the Hubble ST. The best images until the past couple of days.
pluto_1572749i.jpg


Pluto & Charon in exaggerated color, on approach.
15plutocolor-articleLarge.jpg



15pluto2-sub-popup.jpg
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
Looks kind of like the surface of our moon. Worlds of difference in image quality vs the Hubble pics. Not sure those are really from the Hubble though. I'm reasonably sure I took that picture trying to get a shot of a flower.
 
NASA Latest Releases!

Looks like we now have more from NASA!

attachment.php

~ Pluto's Surface ~

attachment.php

~ Pluto - Ice - Methane ~​

NASA Update July 15, 2015

Cheers, og
 

Attachments

  • Plutosurface.jpg
    Plutosurface.jpg
    91.8 KB · Views: 262
  • Pluto-Ice-Methane.jpg
    Pluto-Ice-Methane.jpg
    37.4 KB · Views: 261
The average surface temperature on Pluto is -229 °C.
That is cold beyond the imagination!
It takes about 250 earth years to complete one revolution about the sun. That means the American revolutionary war still happened this year, on Pluto's calendar. Noone could ever have a birthday celebration if they lived there.
 
FYI,

This week's Nova episode on PBS, is about Pluto. On tonight as a matter of fact. At least in the Midwest.

S.J.
 
am wondering how many years will pass before the probe returns ..everything that goes up must come down theory and all that ..
on another note modern tech says we will overtake the probe in a few years and get in front of it as it speeds towards the edge of the galaxy .. well that's what the tv said ...
 
Pluto - Hidden Source of Methane Discovery!

attachment.php

Cheers, og
 

Attachments

  • WC.jpg
    WC.jpg
    84.9 KB · Views: 219
OK, back to reality... the Jack is High for some reason.

These images point toward ice mountains on Pluto about as high as the Rockies and chasms on its big moon Charon that appear six times deeper than the Grand Canyon.

Especially astonishing to scientists was the total absence of impact craters in a zoom-in shot of one otherwise rugged slice of Pluto. That suggests that Pluto is not the dead ice ball many people think, but is instead geologically active even now, its surface sculpted not by collisions with cosmic debris but by its internal heat. The zoom-in of Pluto, reveals a mountain range about 11,000 feet (3,353 meters) high and tens of miles wide. Planetary geologists said the peaks—seemingly pushed up from Pluto's subterranean bed of ice—appeared to be a mere 100 million years old. Pluto itself is 4.5 billion years old. I wonder if these revelation may return Pluto to its planetary status.

The closest approach was 7700 miles. It is now >1 million miles beyond it.

Interesting note:
A computer overload prompted the spacecraft to partially shut down on July 4th—just days before the first-ever close flyby of Pluto. Flight controllers managed to regain contact with the spacecraft in just over an hour and correct the situation; this occurring after a relatively quiet journey of 3 billion mile over 9½ years. About 2½ days of science observations were lost because of the problem. That represents about 30 observations out of 500 planned over the next week.



Pluto, as observed by humanity over the last 85 years. The pixellated first image is Tombaugh's photo plate image.

pluto-observations-through-the-years.gif
 
I just found this- this is cool! It is a real-time graphic of the Deep Space Network's three antennae, what they are receiving from, and/or transmission status.

At this moment, the Canberra antenna is receiving from both Voyager 2 and New Horizon.

http://eyes.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html

MAVEN_DSN.jpg
 
Last edited:
Also of note, and with a connection to my Voyager thread, when will New Horizons become the furthest object, having overtaken Voyager 1's distance at some point?



Although New Horizons will also reach 131 AU (V1's distance now), it never can unseat Voyager 1 as the most distant manmade object from Earth because Voyager was boosted by multiple gravity assists that make its speed faster than New Horizon will travel. Voyager 1 is escaping the solar system at 17 kilometers per second. When New Horizons reaches that same distance 34 years from now, propelled by a single planetary swingby, it will be moving about 13 kilometers per second, down from the 14km/s that was its Pluto encounter speed.

Remember that without propulsion, all of these badboys are being accelerated back to the sun (it is distance-dependent), and hence are all slowing down, albeit at different rates.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom