Posted on 07/14/2015 4:52:26 AM PDT by kidd
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft aimed to get up-close and personal with Pluto on Tuesday, on track to zoom within 7,800 miles of the small icy world left unexplored until now.
It’s the final destination on NASA’s planetary tour of the solar system, which began more than a half-century ago. Pluto was still a full-fledged planet when New Horizons rocketed away in 2006, only to become demoted to dwarf status later that year.
The 3 billion-mile journey from Cape Canaveral, Florida, culminates Tuesday at 7:49 a.m. EDT. That’s when the spacecraft is due to fly past Pluto at 31,000 mph.
The New Horizons team gathered at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, won’t know for many hours if everything went well. The spacecraft will be too busy taking photographs and collecting information to “phone home.” A confirmation signal is expected at around 9 p.m. EDT.
New Horizons already has beamed back the best-ever images of Pluto and big moon Charon. Pluto also has four little moons.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Which set of goofballs decided Pluto wasn’t a planet?
So where are the Mi-Go on Yuggoth?
Because Pluto is just one of a handful of objects in the same neighborhood. To call it a planet would add at LEAST half a dozen new ‘planets’.
After 52 years of only hearing the name Pluto and seeing a little star like image, THAT’S BEAUTIFUL!
No more images or data will be transmitted until tomorrow morning, except for a brief signal saying that the probe is still working (some time tonight).
The probe is busy taking data.
A spectacular accomplishment, just to get this photo.
That heart is where God gave the solar system a swat on the backside at birth.
The “phone home/I’m still here” signal is due at about 9:00pm EDT.
They arbitrarily changed the definition of “planet” so as to meet their new narrative. Typical of science lately.
From live conference:
Dark region is equator
Top-center is north pole of Pluto
Some signs of tectonics
Some impact craters
Thin nitrogen atmosphere
Color variations on surface
Expect much higher resolution photos tomorrow (over 10 times better)
The probe is powered by plutonium (RTG)
Produces 200 Watts of power, loses 3 watts of power per year
Will be transmitting data back to Earth from tomorrow morning until sometime in October 2016 at a rate of 1 kbs to 4 kbs
(should’ve gotten cable instead of dial-up)
It was done at the end of the conference and most scientists had already left. I believe ( just my opinion), that this was done to punish the U.S. Since an American had discovered it; for the Iraq war!
Looks like a footprint to me
the accreted mass is being worn smooth as it escapes the sun’s gravity
Sometimes a kick in the butt is needed to get things started :)
Almost looks like a footprint on there, like God had punted it out there.
It certainly looks like a planet. The “goofballs” evidently were trying to get everyone thinking it was shaped like a potato and not much larger.
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