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12 years after launch, New Horizons probe zeroes in on mysterious Ultima Thule
Geek Wire ^
| 12/02/18
| Alan Boyle
Posted on 12/02/2018 8:47:33 PM PST by Simon Green
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To: Simon Green
Today the team beamed out commands to fine-tune New Horizons trajectory using the spacecrafts navigational thrusters (which, by the way, were built at Aerojet Rocketdynes facility in Redmond, Wash.). It took more than six hours for the commands to reach the probe at the speed of light, at a rate of 1,000 bits per second. I'm amazed the spacecraft can receive at that bandwidth, given the incredible distance.
Remarkable technology.
2
posted on
12/02/2018 8:51:18 PM PST
by
Steely Tom
([Seth Rich] == [the Democrat's John Dean])
To: Simon Green
piano-sized spacecraft Grand or spinet?
To: Simon Green
SO.... by this time they should know if they were successful. Any news on that ?
4
posted on
12/02/2018 8:55:16 PM PST
by
UCANSEE2
(Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
To: Simon Green
New Horizons has delivered the goods. The pictures back from Pluto were awesome.
Further, the probe went into "safe mode" less than a week before Pluto's flyby - the team kept their cool and made the flyby work flawlessly...AND they aren't afraid to wave the American flag.
5
posted on
12/02/2018 8:57:29 PM PST
by
DoodleBob
To: Simon Green
Amazing!! And NASA must certainly be boosting Muslims egos
6
posted on
12/02/2018 9:09:26 PM PST
by
faithhopecharity
("Politicians aren't born, they're excreted." -Marcus Tillius Cicero (3 BCE))
To: UCANSEE2
SO.... by this time they should know if they were successful. Any news on that ? It doesn't get there until Jan. 1st. We'll know later that day.
7
posted on
12/02/2018 9:31:46 PM PST
by
Simon Green
("Arm your daughter, sir, and pay no attention to petty bureaucrats.”)
To: DoodleBob; All
Very interesting vid describing many of New Horizons’ discoveries @ Pluto. I don’t think any Sci-Fi writer even imagined so much there...
8
posted on
12/02/2018 9:35:46 PM PST
by
Paul R.
To: DoodleBob; All
9
posted on
12/02/2018 9:36:27 PM PST
by
Paul R.
To: Simon Green
It’s exciting to see something get that far out there. Thanks for the news!
10
posted on
12/02/2018 9:41:46 PM PST
by
bluejean
(I'm becoming a cranky old person. It really annoys me.)
To: yesthatjallen
Grand or spinet? Desktop digital, of course
That quip aside, this whole thing is amazing.
Odd how many Sci-Fi books I have read recently have the Kuiper belt objects as part of the plot.
To: Simon Green
To: Simon Green
To: Simon Green
One of the things I thought was neat about the New Horizons probe was that it was powered by Plutonium. Uranium was named after Uranus which was recently discovered at the time (The Constitution is about as old). When the next element was created, #93, it was named Neptunium. Since #94 was next planet it got the name Plutonium.
Although Pluto lost its lofty place in the sky as a planet, as an element it has the higher honor. Long after mankind has moved to other stars that element will retain that name . That Plutonium powered the first visit to Pluto highlights the honor!
14
posted on
12/02/2018 11:10:05 PM PST
by
Nateman
(If the left is not screaming, you are doing it wrong)
15
posted on
12/02/2018 11:52:40 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
To: ETL
16
posted on
12/03/2018 12:00:08 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
To: Nateman
That’s a cool bit of trivia.
17
posted on
12/03/2018 12:15:43 AM PST
by
Moonman62
(Give a man a fish and he'll be a Democrat. Teach a man to fish and he'll be a responsible citizen.)
To: Simon Green
We’ve been watching astronomer Spike Psarris videos on astronomy on YouTube. Amazing information!
To: Simon Green
In the 1930 or so movie, “Ultima Thule” was the term the Romans used for the Scottish island of St. Kilda. “The edge of the world.”
19
posted on
12/03/2018 4:03:28 AM PST
by
yarddog
To: yesthatjallen
piano-sized spacecraft
Grand or spinet?
Weigha in just under 900 lbs (401 kg)
instrument package weighs only 30 kg (~70 lbs)
Amazing can receive data at that distance
20
posted on
12/03/2018 5:11:51 AM PST
by
njslim
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