I'm hoping one of the enthusiasts here has an answer or a place to look for this. I'm captivated by the twelve watt transmitter talking to our receivers at the three key places in the world for deep space communication, and that the data dump will take another 16 months.
This little engine that could isn't the only (albeit important) project out there. How do they share those telescopes with other projects that need listening to? Does the New Horizon's probe transmit for say a hour block of time and the antennae go listen to other things, like Voyager once in awhile? I'm curious and hope that the science writers here take up the challenge to explain how such negotiations on sharing those enormous ears gets the time divided up.
This little engine that could isn't the only (albeit important) project out there. How do they share those telescopes with other projects that need listening to? Does the New Horizon's probe transmit for say a hour block of time and the antennae go listen to other things, like Voyager once in awhile? I'm curious and hope that the science writers here take up the challenge to explain how such negotiations on sharing those enormous ears gets the time divided up.
1
That's a good question, and I can't quite answer it, but here is a start:
1. NASA uses the Deep Space Network to communicate with distant spacecraft. DSN is operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
2. There are multiple antennas at three sites around the Earth: USA (California), Spain, Australia.
3. DSN supports 40 to 50 missions at a time. The Current Mission Set PDF lists them.
4. The DSN Now web page shows what antennas are currently communicating with what spacecraft.
NB: The Times sometimes censors posts with links, so I haven't provided any. A web search will get you to the DSN web site.
1. NASA uses the Deep Space Network to communicate with distant spacecraft. DSN is operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
2. There are multiple antennas at three sites around the Earth: USA (California), Spain, Australia.
3. DSN supports 40 to 50 missions at a time. The Current Mission Set PDF lists them.
4. The DSN Now web page shows what antennas are currently communicating with what spacecraft.
NB: The Times sometimes censors posts with links, so I haven't provided any. A web search will get you to the DSN web site.
1
I visited the Canberra station a few years ago. A remarkable place.
A breath of fresh air from out of this world. Thank you, NASA, thank you, Science for diverting our attention to the larger picture. Knowledge is priceless, knowledge is power. Only good can come of this.
2
“I don’t think any one of us could have imagined that this could have been a better toy store,” S. Alan Stern
Yes, Sir; but it could have been vastly cheaper. The costs could have saved a million lives. Sorry bto be a spoilsport, but NASA as an offshoot of the Russian fears of the '40s & '50s has grown into a beautiful photo album of places dumb politicians think they can escape to once they finish wrecking the world.
You are just the ring masters in a circus we can't afford.
Yes, Sir; but it could have been vastly cheaper. The costs could have saved a million lives. Sorry bto be a spoilsport, but NASA as an offshoot of the Russian fears of the '40s & '50s has grown into a beautiful photo album of places dumb politicians think they can escape to once they finish wrecking the world.
You are just the ring masters in a circus we can't afford.
@PAmot: "... a circus we can't afford ..."
Your sig says you are in "Paris", so who do you mean by "we"? BTW, if you are going to complain about US government spending, you should read up on the US government budget first. Here is a good place to start:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget
Your sig says you are in "Paris", so who do you mean by "we"? BTW, if you are going to complain about US government spending, you should read up on the US government budget first. Here is a good place to start:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget
4
If this is a waste of money, let's squander trillions more. New Horizons is a spectacular achievement. As this article advised, only a little more than a century ago mankind could barely get an airplane off the ground. Now we are photographing the outer limits of our solar system.
How tragic for you to be one of those unfortunate people who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
How tragic for you to be one of those unfortunate people who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
3
Of course---------------------we should have donated the money to the 1%ers.
They evidently do so much good.
They evidently do so much good.
I've been thoroughly entranced by this event and the articles about it. A few observations:
1. scientists have a great sense of humor and an even greater sense of awe
2. it has been a revelation to see two women so prominently featured: deputy project scientist Catherine Olkin and mission operations manager Alice Bowman. I hope lots of girls and young women see these two smart, witty and endearing women and think to themselves, "I can do that too."
1. scientists have a great sense of humor and an even greater sense of awe
2. it has been a revelation to see two women so prominently featured: deputy project scientist Catherine Olkin and mission operations manager Alice Bowman. I hope lots of girls and young women see these two smart, witty and endearing women and think to themselves, "I can do that too."
1
@NK: '... see these two smart, witty and endearing women and think to themselves, "I can do that too."'
You were doing OK until you got to "endearing". That sounds condescending at best, and sexist at worst. Would you call Carl Sagan "endearing"?
You were doing OK until you got to "endearing". That sounds condescending at best, and sexist at worst. Would you call Carl Sagan "endearing"?
1
Sagan was eye-candy in the service of Science, completely a self-consciously created media phenomenon. Nothing wrong with that, but a little shy of Marie Curie.
Let's get a definition of "endearing" on the page here (from my web dictionary):
endear - verb [ trans. ]
cause to be loved or liked : Flora's [My additions here: Alice's, Catherine's, Carl's] spirit and character endeared her [them] to everyone who met her [them].
endearing, adjective
inspiring love or affection : an endearing little grin.
[whenever Carl said "billions and billions" (attributed).... sigh!]
Alice's lovely smile [I melted!] as she related her overwhelming happiness at the success of New Horizons? Yes, absolutely endearing!
So, Alice Bowman, Catherine Olkin, Carl Sagan, Alan Sterm- all endearing?
You betcha they are! As are many others in the space program. It's their emotions that come out that make them so.
Yes, science is usually a cold and sober consideration of the physical world, as well it should be; that insures objectivity. But it is always and only conducted by humans, who have huge emotional investments in all that they do. So when those emotions come out, as they do upon completion of a scientific enterprise, or failure of same, of course they endear themselves to us as we celebrate with them in their joy of their achievements, or suffer with them the disappointments of their failures.
endear - verb [ trans. ]
cause to be loved or liked : Flora's [My additions here: Alice's, Catherine's, Carl's] spirit and character endeared her [them] to everyone who met her [them].
endearing, adjective
inspiring love or affection : an endearing little grin.
[whenever Carl said "billions and billions" (attributed).... sigh!]
Alice's lovely smile [I melted!] as she related her overwhelming happiness at the success of New Horizons? Yes, absolutely endearing!
So, Alice Bowman, Catherine Olkin, Carl Sagan, Alan Sterm- all endearing?
You betcha they are! As are many others in the space program. It's their emotions that come out that make them so.
Yes, science is usually a cold and sober consideration of the physical world, as well it should be; that insures objectivity. But it is always and only conducted by humans, who have huge emotional investments in all that they do. So when those emotions come out, as they do upon completion of a scientific enterprise, or failure of same, of course they endear themselves to us as we celebrate with them in their joy of their achievements, or suffer with them the disappointments of their failures.
1
hoping to see more detail soon, but the heart shaped bright region appears to have many features along its edges that suggest it behaves like a glacier. If active glaciation is characteristic of these icy outer planets (regular or dwarf), that would go a long way to explain absence of craters.
2
@doug mclaren: "... many features along its edges that suggest it behaves like a glacier."
Plutonian glaciers would be very interesting. Could you describe the features you see that suggest glacial behavior?
Plutonian glaciers would be very interesting. Could you describe the features you see that suggest glacial behavior?
That's it.. I'm going to Pluto, to escape Earth's infestation of horrible humanity. Too bad I can't take the human abused plants and animals with me.
6
And where did your scape from yourself there, being human as you are?
Among the many utterly astonishing feats that this mission represents, nothing surpasses the fact that we can receive data sent by a 12-watt (12 watt!) radio 3 billion miles away. 12 watts; that's just a bit more than a bathroom night light.
And how wonderful that this feat of technology should prove so worthwhile, uncovering literally new worlds of fascination.
And how wonderful that this feat of technology should prove so worthwhile, uncovering literally new worlds of fascination.
13
Of course, I meant "literally" figuratively... oops. Sorry.
2
Peter, we could argue that the worlds are indeed literally new, in the sense that they are new to us. Sure, we've known about Pluto and Charon for some time, but we now have literally new worlds of information about them. And who knows what other worlds New Horizons will discover anew?
1
Of course, most of that data will take close to one year (!) to be fully transmitted. :)
I am a child of the Space Age, from the very beginnings of NASA, and I'm impressed. Space exploration -- along with all the practical technology and economic benefits we enjoy as a result -- make me proud to be an American.
For those whining about the cost of the Pluto New Horizons mission ($720 million: The cost of the entire mission, including spacecraft and instrument development, data analysis, education/public outreach, mission operations and launch vehicles from 2001-2016), this is little more than a government budget rounding error. Yet, what spectacular bang-for-the-buck!
For a little perspective, a single B-2 Stealth Bomber cost $737 million in 1997 dollars (actually a total cost per plane of $929 million 1997 dollars, when the costs of spare parts, support, etc. are factored in).
"A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money." -- Everett Dirksen
So, NASA, money well-spent; job well-done.
Perhaps the deficit scolds should content themselves with things like $5 billion, that's billion with a "b," in food-stamp (i.e. SNAP) cuts in 2013. Bet that made you proud.
For those whining about the cost of the Pluto New Horizons mission ($720 million: The cost of the entire mission, including spacecraft and instrument development, data analysis, education/public outreach, mission operations and launch vehicles from 2001-2016), this is little more than a government budget rounding error. Yet, what spectacular bang-for-the-buck!
For a little perspective, a single B-2 Stealth Bomber cost $737 million in 1997 dollars (actually a total cost per plane of $929 million 1997 dollars, when the costs of spare parts, support, etc. are factored in).
"A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money." -- Everett Dirksen
So, NASA, money well-spent; job well-done.
Perhaps the deficit scolds should content themselves with things like $5 billion, that's billion with a "b," in food-stamp (i.e. SNAP) cuts in 2013. Bet that made you proud.
20
All other news today, pales in comparison to this!
5
The Wright Brothers, Sir Hillary summits Everest, Armstrongs one giant leap - New Horizon is an accomplishment for the ages. Awe inspiring and a testament to the USA and the future of mankind.
4
Finally a solution to the lack of water in California. We have a planet only 3 billion miles away made of frozen water.
4
If the government would grant me the right to earmark a small portion of my taxes for something meaningful to me, they would go to NASA.
We have many large problems on this ball of mud but the one thing that makes our existence meaningful is the thirst for knowledge. Our desire to understand the Universe around us.
Congratulations on this momentous event.
We have many large problems on this ball of mud but the one thing that makes our existence meaningful is the thirst for knowledge. Our desire to understand the Universe around us.
Congratulations on this momentous event.
19
I wonder how long it would take the "country" that ISIS is to accomplish something like this. It inhabits the other end of the civilization spectrum and would never consider such an endeavor.
This is what we should stand for, people - learning and expanding our knowledge of the universe. Fence-sitting gets you nothing but a fence post in your nether regions. I miss my country...
This is what we should stand for, people - learning and expanding our knowledge of the universe. Fence-sitting gets you nothing but a fence post in your nether regions. I miss my country...
6
The anti-government types ought to honest enough to note the success of this public project and that, over its billion mile-plus trip, it has cost about 24 cents a mile --- less than the typical suburban SUV.
Now, a nation that can send something the size of a large refrigerator on a pin-point trip to the edge of the solar system ought to be able to ensure basic, quality health care for all Americans of great potential achievement, no matter if they are children, veterans, homeless, elderly or merely US citizens.
Now, a nation that can send something the size of a large refrigerator on a pin-point trip to the edge of the solar system ought to be able to ensure basic, quality health care for all Americans of great potential achievement, no matter if they are children, veterans, homeless, elderly or merely US citizens.
4
This is what we should be doing. The robotic instrumentation just keeps getting better and better. The benefit-to-cost ratio keeps on improving. Forget about sending people into space. Little of value is learned. And the costs and risks are not only out of sight, but suck away money that could be used for missions like New Horizons.
3
Fascinating.
2
If in the span of 45 years we've landed on the moon, a celestial body at a distance of 138,900 miles from Earth, and now a flyby object has just taken truly graphic pictures of a world we could only dream of, imagine what we could accomplish in another 45 years in the future... Hopefully, NASA will be around and our spirit of conquest will not diminish.
8
If it can indeed adjust it's course as indicated at the end of this article, why was it not made to stop and orbit Pluto indefinitely? One pop scientist young lady was seen in a YouTube video claiming that it would be too much to send propellant with the machine for maneuvering that far away. And is there a reason the picture we get to see is of low resolution? That's a rhetorical question: We always get low resolution from NASA. The 1 million dollar camera on the Rosetta comet orbiter is a whopping 4 megapixels. Look at the Moon photos, even the released Apollo pictures shot with film: a fuzz we must peer through, as if it is too far for quality, It is not the policy of any government agency to risk showing us the bases and artificial buildings on The Moon, on Mars, or anywhere else. That would mean alien visitors live or have lived on or in those bodies. And that would be the biggest news story in 100 years. I wonder why a news organization does not investigate the evidence in NASA's own archives alone, available on the internet. As one man who was given access to the good pictures said, "And then the mood became almost...solemn. Because we knew we were looking at artificial structures on The Moon."
Why are we wasting tax payer's dollars on this pluto nonsense at a time when we need more money for federally subsidized low-income housing, guns for the middle east, and now, since Iran, more foreign aid for Israel? And who cares whether or not there are craters on pluto? We have a crater right here in Crater National Park. That one should be enough; we can even build condos on its rim, which we can't do on pluto. And why is the group of mission scientists who manage the pluto nonsense so white?
1
Why are the Pluto-mission scientists so white? Because they worked hard to be there, Bill. Or maybe the folks at NASA are racists, right Bill? Another example of the Left-wing PC brigades spouting nonsense, and this time about an incredible achievement.
No craters? Interesting.
I guess this is as good a forum as any to propose a theory of my own regarding this: debris that floats around in space has a very small chance of hitting the surface of Pluto that faces the sun. The surface of Pluto that doesn't face the sun, I predict, will show more craters than what we see here. I'll theorize that the gravitational pull of our sun draws the cosmic debris towards it, giving our solar system's inner planets a higher probability of being hit, versus the reach of the sun's pull past Pluto to influence debris to pull it and then hit Pluto.
I guess this is as good a forum as any to propose a theory of my own regarding this: debris that floats around in space has a very small chance of hitting the surface of Pluto that faces the sun. The surface of Pluto that doesn't face the sun, I predict, will show more craters than what we see here. I'll theorize that the gravitational pull of our sun draws the cosmic debris towards it, giving our solar system's inner planets a higher probability of being hit, versus the reach of the sun's pull past Pluto to influence debris to pull it and then hit Pluto.
1
Chris, Pluto rotates once in a little more than 6 1/3 Earth days, so it presents all sides outward quite frequently. Pluto revolves once in 248 Earth years, which means its year is 14,000 Plutonian days long.
Chris, Pluto's day is about 6.5 of our earth days - in rotation relative to the sun! Therefore, all of it's surface is exposed to junk hitting it coming in from outside Pluto's orbit, as it rotates, so would expect any cratering to be evenly distributed over it's entire surface, same with Charon. Now Pluto and big moon Charon ARE tidally locked and always have same sides facing each other; but with respect to the sun, or from out beyond Pluto, both are rotating and thus equally exposed to hits from debris.
1
God bless science. God bless these United States of America!
4
As far as the lack of craters goes, I wonder if that and its weird orbit could hint at the (remote) possibility that Pluto is a true wanderer, a world that came here from outside, rather than being formed along with the rest of our system.
4
oh my i am in awe! thank you for it all - i'm unable except to learn-
3
Western mankind have always been explorers. Its in our DNA. NASA is the one success story of our government. For some who do not value American Exceptionalism, any price is too high. Thus, NASA's budget has been decimated and Cocoa Beach is a near ghost town.
5
Actually, NASA budget cutters are led primarily by Republicans who proclaim American Exceptionalism when it suits them, but who put little value in science. So exceptional American scientific endeavors are at the top of their chopping block. Sequestration has been devastating to American physics and astrophysics, and the best jobs in those fields are now in Europe.
5
"...Pluto, small and far away, possesses no obvious sources of heat."
This is simply not true. Planetary scientists have proposed heat from residual radioactivity in the rocky interior of Pluto for many years. Dr. Alan Stern, the lead scientist on the New Horizons mission, published a research paper in 1997 discussing this possibility. Others have built on this hypothesis since then.
The suspicion that Pluto has active geology was one of the primary drivers for the New Horizons mission. No one, not even planetary scientists, would bother visiting a completely cold, dead world at the edge of the Solar System when we can look to the highlands of our own Moon to study a multitude of craters.
This is simply not true. Planetary scientists have proposed heat from residual radioactivity in the rocky interior of Pluto for many years. Dr. Alan Stern, the lead scientist on the New Horizons mission, published a research paper in 1997 discussing this possibility. Others have built on this hypothesis since then.
The suspicion that Pluto has active geology was one of the primary drivers for the New Horizons mission. No one, not even planetary scientists, would bother visiting a completely cold, dead world at the edge of the Solar System when we can look to the highlands of our own Moon to study a multitude of craters.
6
Obvious means self-evident. An unproven possibility, no matter how likely, can't be called obvious.
1
As a a scientist I am excited about the spectacular achiement of Man in space technology and in the exploration of other planets etc . But as a human being who watches day in day out the sufferings of people all over the world for want of the bare necessacity es of life, the senseless killings of fellow men by wars, the disgusting race and caste problems and other divisions within the human society, I can't help wonder if these s o called achievements of Man in studying Pluto , for example, can do an iota of good to bring happiness and harmony in our divided world.
It would be laudable if the advanced rich countries spent their money to improve the condition of the poorest and weakest sections of this human society instead of squandering the precious tax payer's money in such explorations that will take us nowhere .
It would be laudable if the advanced rich countries spent their money to improve the condition of the poorest and weakest sections of this human society instead of squandering the precious tax payer's money in such explorations that will take us nowhere .
2
I disagree wholeheartedly. Civilization can walk and chew gum at the same time. We spend untold billions trying to improve the lot of the least fortunate among us.
More importantly, New Horizons and other aspirational projects like it do more to enhance civilization than almost anything else. Just as thinkers like Galileo and Newton helped raise our collective IQ centuries ago, so too our exploration of the edges of the solar system shows us what good we as a species can do when we put our minds to it. It would literally mark the death knell of modern civilization if we ever reach a point where we stop projects like New Horizons because we don't think it's money well spent.
The shame is that there aren't more of these missions.
More importantly, New Horizons and other aspirational projects like it do more to enhance civilization than almost anything else. Just as thinkers like Galileo and Newton helped raise our collective IQ centuries ago, so too our exploration of the edges of the solar system shows us what good we as a species can do when we put our minds to it. It would literally mark the death knell of modern civilization if we ever reach a point where we stop projects like New Horizons because we don't think it's money well spent.
The shame is that there aren't more of these missions.
5
"it would be laudable if the advanced rich countries spent their money to improve the condition of the poorest and weakest sections of this human society instead of squandering the precious tax payer's money in such explorations that will take us nowhere .""
Please.
You could take every penny spent on NASA, the European Space Agency, The Russian program, all of our space endeavors for the past 60 years and devote spending it on the poorest segments of humanity and come back in 10 years and find them right where you found them before spending a nickle on them.
As for me, I'd rather see the money spent on p[projects such as this. Thank you, NASA.
Please.
You could take every penny spent on NASA, the European Space Agency, The Russian program, all of our space endeavors for the past 60 years and devote spending it on the poorest segments of humanity and come back in 10 years and find them right where you found them before spending a nickle on them.
As for me, I'd rather see the money spent on p[projects such as this. Thank you, NASA.
6
I partly share your sentiments, although I would argue that investment in scientific excursions have an indirect and increasingly positive impact on our collective wellbeing. Stimulating the minds of young people through exploration of this sort brings better clarity to where we fit within the cosmos and stokes the fire to learn and educate oneself. That education is crucial to problem solving on the scale it is needed, and coaxes us toward a secular worldview...away from the problems engendered by belief in divine creation; conflict and overpopulation among them.
Is anyone else a tiny bit worried that Pluto has evidence of water melting and re-freezing in the not-too distant past so far from the sun? Could the sun periodically give off a lot of heat? Could some other source of energy occasionally direct itself to random locations in the solar system/universe? Are we at risk here on Earth? Probably not, but....
Don't worry. Had the Sun radiated enough to warm Pluto, there would be records in Earth's geology. If extra-solar sources directed radiation sufficient to warm Pluto, there would be plenty of other effects. And of course, there are many extra-solar sources of stunningly high radiation of all types, but they are far away. You can see a good number of them when you look at the sky at night.
I'm a planetary scientist and, although I'm not involved in the New Horizons team, part of my research involves studying the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn which are similar to Pluto in many ways.
To me, the near-absence of craters on Pluto is not surprising at all. In fact, I was discussing this with my 8-year-old daughter last week and I predicted for her that Pluto would largely lack craters.
Why? Voyager 2 images taken in 1989 showed that Triton, Neptune's largest moon, also almost completely lacks craters; estimates are that Triton's surface age is only 10-100 million years old. Triton and Pluto are both Kuiper Belt Objects and are very similar, so they should behave in similar ways.
Triton (like Pluto) lacks any source of current heating that could power geology. Some scientists have speculated that Triton's lack of craters results from surface activity that occurred when Triton was captured into Neptune orbit. But that was never a plausible idea, because this capture event almost certainly happened right after solar system formation 4.6 billion years ago, and it cannot explain the recent geological activity necessary to erase craters over the last 10-100 million years.
Pluto and Triton both contain not only water ice but ices of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane, which can mobilize and become geologically active at low temperatures. This helps explain how Triton--and Pluto--can be geologically active (and have few craters) despite no major heat source.
To me, the near-absence of craters on Pluto is not surprising at all. In fact, I was discussing this with my 8-year-old daughter last week and I predicted for her that Pluto would largely lack craters.
Why? Voyager 2 images taken in 1989 showed that Triton, Neptune's largest moon, also almost completely lacks craters; estimates are that Triton's surface age is only 10-100 million years old. Triton and Pluto are both Kuiper Belt Objects and are very similar, so they should behave in similar ways.
Triton (like Pluto) lacks any source of current heating that could power geology. Some scientists have speculated that Triton's lack of craters results from surface activity that occurred when Triton was captured into Neptune orbit. But that was never a plausible idea, because this capture event almost certainly happened right after solar system formation 4.6 billion years ago, and it cannot explain the recent geological activity necessary to erase craters over the last 10-100 million years.
Pluto and Triton both contain not only water ice but ices of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane, which can mobilize and become geologically active at low temperatures. This helps explain how Triton--and Pluto--can be geologically active (and have few craters) despite no major heat source.
10
Let me join the Commenters who profer theories one or two standard deviations away from common sense. With all that water ice and assorted other ices, what happens if a rock smacks into Pluto's surface?
A. But, wouldn't Triton, being in orbit around a fairly massive planet, Neptune, be exposed to tidal heating mechanisms, like Jupiter's moons are? If so, that energy could account for resurfacing of the moon to erase craters. Whereas, Pluto has no massive companion that could heat it due to tidal interactions. OR, is Triton tidally locked to Neptune (same moon rotation rate as its orbital period), in which case very little or no tidal heating would take place - sorry, I don't know answer to that.
1
I hope this mission helps rebuild Pluto's self-esteem after it was demoted from being a planet in our solar system. It should realize that all the time, effort and money we spent sending a probe so close by it in order to study it and find out what it is made of means we still care about it.
It reminds of the time we visited some distant relatives of my father's way up in Wisconsin. While we were driving, it felt to me like we were going to "a small, icy world three billion miles away". When we arrived in our station wagon, some of them muttered about rich city slickers, but, by the time the visit was over, and a few Budweisers were shared, everybody felt better for having had the encounter. We had to scale a few icy social mountains first, but we even got some pictures of the encounter, too. Now where are those photos, anyway?
3
I'm betting it was either a few Blatz beers or Old Styles in Wisconsin!!
No! It had to have been Old Petosi!!! Burp! Robin, great comparison you made between two very similar and grand missions! G.
1
As a huge fan of the planetary missions I was devastated when Reagan cut the budget for a Voyager flyby of Pluto. How foolish since the spacecraft would be out there anyway. I just resigned myself to dying without ever seeing a close-up of my favorite planet (to me, in my heart, it will always be a planet though I understand the logic of the reclassification).
Then came New Horizons. WOW!
Thank you NASA.
Then came New Horizons. WOW!
Thank you NASA.
3
What a wonderful sentence: "Only 112 years after the Wright Brothers were barely able to get their airplane off the ground, a machine from Earth has crossed the solar system to a small, icy world three billion miles away."
There may still be a few people alive on our planet who were born before the Wright Brothers actually flew. Just think what we might accomplish in the next 112 years -- if we don't kill ourselves off before then.
There may still be a few people alive on our planet who were born before the Wright Brothers actually flew. Just think what we might accomplish in the next 112 years -- if we don't kill ourselves off before then.
3
Mountains of water-ice and no visible impact craters...an Europa like surface with signs of plate tectonics but without apparent evidence of a prime mover...curiouser and curiouser.
3
What fantastic pictures from a probe that was invented, launched, and now monitored by scientists who have spent years learning to accomplish such amazing technical successes.
As I usually use these posts berate the illiterate masses who populate this planet in, I am today unable to focus on human ignorance in the face of such a massive accomplishment.
It gives me hope, and that is all we seem to have these days.
BRAVO, NASA scientists and ALL NASA employees and contractors who worked to make this happen. It is truly a momentous day for the people of this planet that I am sure will be remembered throughout history.
Truly amazing!
As I usually use these posts berate the illiterate masses who populate this planet in, I am today unable to focus on human ignorance in the face of such a massive accomplishment.
It gives me hope, and that is all we seem to have these days.
BRAVO, NASA scientists and ALL NASA employees and contractors who worked to make this happen. It is truly a momentous day for the people of this planet that I am sure will be remembered throughout history.
Truly amazing!
1
"112 years after the Wright Brothers were barely able to get their airplane off the ground" - this isn't the correct historical connection. The Wright Brothers developed a aerodynamic control system to allow planes to fly through air. Space flight primarily involves movement through a vacuum. Perhaps a better historical event to compare to is Robert Goddard's launch of the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926.
2
I disagree. Both atmospheric flight and space flight rely on a combination of thrust and control. The invention of the airplane was the first time these elements were combined successfully to achieve controlled propulsion off earth's surface (putting aside lighter than air flight which is based on a much more trivial and nearly useless physical effect) and can therefore logically be considered the beginning of the technological journey leading up to today's sophisticated spacecraft.
An amazing, awesome, joyous discovery to everyone - except Ken Ham!
1
After months of Iran, Greece, China, Putin, DeBlasio, Baltimore, Donald and all the other sad commentary on our daily lives, it is so exciting and downright heartwarming to know there are people in this world who have the intelligence, the wherewithal, the passion and the patience to lend their lives to discovery.
12
Congratulations to those who worked so hard on this project. From the scientists and engineers to the assemblers of its various parts, thank you for furthering our knowledge
8
Stunning! It's amazing. The know-how, the guts, the accomplishment. I couldn't be prouder of my fellow Americans. Pluto, I'm so glad to see you at long last.
4
I have to say that I am always amazed that NASA is always amazed by their discoveries. The idea that Pluto would have craters is "BIZARRE" to say the least. Please, tell me, what in the expanse of the Universe could possibly be expected TO HIT PLUTO??? My God, it is way out there all alone. It is not going to intersect any comets, meteors, or asteroids flying by. Those who may be crossing its path in space would have to hit it directly. What are the odds of that??? Almost NIL. Get real people!!!!!!
Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud objects, the same meteors, comets, rocks and dust particles that leave the distant solar system and collide routinely with planets. Many, many craters do not originate with asteroid belt objects.
On the other hand, the odds of some rock's hitting our moon are almost nil. But then, way back in time, there must have been plenty of rocks rolling around the sun, considering how many of them hit the moon, and the earth. And don't forget, there is plenty of stuff in the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, right next door to Pluto.
Remember, Pluto is just one of zillions of Kuiper belt objects, and one of the closest ones to the sun. That belt extends another 2 billion miles or so beyond Pluto's average orbit, so lots of junk out there that potentially can come crashing in towards the inner solar system where Pluto resides. And, that junk has had about 4.5 billion years to do that. Yes, probability of hits on Pluto may be low, but given enough time..... So, the big mystery now is why so FEW craters on Pluto - some kind of re-surfacing must be going on.
Scientist, not an astrophysicist, but so far the findings are somewhat banal.
Finding an ice mountain, no craters! a $750 million price tag, somewhat excessive. Far too much for not so much.
Hopefully, something more overwhelming in the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt (please, NYT, don't omit Edgeworth!).
Finding an ice mountain, no craters! a $750 million price tag, somewhat excessive. Far too much for not so much.
Hopefully, something more overwhelming in the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt (please, NYT, don't omit Edgeworth!).
Does NASA have a public relations and marketing department? They should be shouting about this from every hill. President Obama should be beaming with pride, taking time to note that this mission was launched when Bush was President (and probably planned under Clinton). He might say: "See? Here's proof that governmental institutions, with proper oversight, CAN produce glorious accomplishments that we can all be proud of." This is a very rare opportunity to ACTUALLY unite all Americans, rather than just talk about doing so sometime in the hazy future.
Then Republicans can brush that aside and do all the talking about American Exceptionalism that they want, and in this one instance there won't be nearly as many liberal eyeballs rolling.
Then Republicans can brush that aside and do all the talking about American Exceptionalism that they want, and in this one instance there won't be nearly as many liberal eyeballs rolling.
11
I hypothesize that the Pluto system formed geologically recently in a massive collision of Kuiper Belt objects.
1
Great hypothesis! Within a few years, after all the New Horizons data had been digested, we may be able to test it.
1
Are astronomers going to consider Pluto a planet again now?
1
Extraordinary! Magnificent! More pictures please! Thank you for rekindling my childhood excitement about the future. I confess to have been watching Star Trek reruns.......
1
Congratulations to the scientists at NASA. And jeers to the anti-science politicians who underfund NASA.
22
Thrilling! I'm so happy to have lived at the time of our space explorations beginning back in 1969--and to still be around to see the Pluto flyby. With photos from such a faraway place!!
The New Horizons flyby of Pluto is an amazing event. It is an absolute tribute to American scientific and technological achievement. This is a day for celebration around the world and it was made possible by American endeavors. Congratulations to all those who were involved in any way in this momentous project. This achievement shows America at its finest. It is a reminder of the great things that America can accomplish.
14
Compared to the yearly cost of handbags, beer and munitions I'd say space exploration is a deal ... What are the moon landing deniers gonna say?
5
When we are looking up, not as Americans or Russians or as boys or girls or as white or black, but just as human beings and see the wonder of the universe, it gives us that moment of hope, that perhaps nothing is impossible if we all decided to do it. We are so strong, and yet so weak. Together we can explore the universe. Divided, we can't even agree to help our neighbor.
If in fact, there is a Creator out there, I'm sure that She is very proud of our tiny achievement of sending a little box of instruments to take pictures of her creation. If there is no god, we should be very proud of our achievement of sending a little box of instruments to the far corners of our solar system to take pictures of ball of ice.
If in fact, there is a Creator out there, I'm sure that She is very proud of our tiny achievement of sending a little box of instruments to take pictures of her creation. If there is no god, we should be very proud of our achievement of sending a little box of instruments to the far corners of our solar system to take pictures of ball of ice.
6
Ah the joy and wonder of a new discovery! I can't stop looking at the pictures.
1
Reality; it beats imagination by three billion miles.
21
It's the imagination that got us there.
9
Wonderful. mountains and no craters!
3
If it is spherical
and it is.
If it has moons
and it has five of them.
If it orbits the Sun
which it does.
If it has water
which it might
Why not call Pluto
a Planet ?
and it is.
If it has moons
and it has five of them.
If it orbits the Sun
which it does.
If it has water
which it might
Why not call Pluto
a Planet ?
35
As with creeks, streams and rivers...size matters and Pluto is, nowadays, deemed too small for the sobriquet 'Planet.'
Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, and Ceres are planets. They are dwarf planets, a category separate from the rocky planets and separate from the jovian (gas giant) planets. Pluto has never *not* been a planet.
If Pluto is a planet,
then so are
Eris, Sedna, Haumea, Makemake, Varuna, Orcus, Ixion, Quaoar, ...
and many others.
Learn them all
then so are
Eris, Sedna, Haumea, Makemake, Varuna, Orcus, Ixion, Quaoar, ...
and many others.
Learn them all
It is sort of curious there are no craters in this region of Pluto's surface. How many other proto-planets or moons have we observed like that? Not many.
Oh well, beats building oil pipelines in Iraq that just get blown up.
Oh well, beats building oil pipelines in Iraq that just get blown up.
16
Not just a little curious, its actually shocking. It means this little body is alive - it is somehow constantly renewing its surface, just like Earth. But Earth is big and rocky; its retained heat from its formation and radioactive decay of U, Th, and K add more energy to keep it alive. Pluto would have very little of these rocky elements. As the article states, the source of energy that keeps Pluto alive is a complete mystery. There is something going on that we don't understand, and nothing is quite as exciting as that.
A scientist.
A scientist.
1
One possibility for energy source is a slowly freezing ocean beneath the surface, with released latent heat driving the resurfacing.
1
That photograph of the 5 scientists is priceless. I've never seen a picture where all the people in it look so thrilled.
36
You bet! I even copied that photo to my desktop. Still, tho, all of our previous space successes have had similar images associated with them, like Steve Squires falling to his knees when that first image came down from one of the Mars landers, or from the control room after Apollo 11 landed on the moon, etc. etc. It's so great that our media allows us to share and participate in these events, almost like being there.
1
Although just a hunch, could what we see be a repeat of how earths moon was formed?
I postulate that the dark area 'Morador' at the top of the image was an impact site that filled with lava and cooled. This could have happened after the crust had already formed. Given the debris field that Pluto exists, it is not a stretch to believe that this could happen after the crust had substantially cooled. If the penetrator was a large body approx 2/3 the size of Pluto, it could have ejected enough debris to form Pluto's many moons. Further, if you look at the lower half of Pluto, it looks like the crust was reformed at a date later than the upper half. All of this could also have a bearing on the Pluto system's strange inclination.
Again just a though after looking at the picture.
I postulate that the dark area 'Morador' at the top of the image was an impact site that filled with lava and cooled. This could have happened after the crust had already formed. Given the debris field that Pluto exists, it is not a stretch to believe that this could happen after the crust had substantially cooled. If the penetrator was a large body approx 2/3 the size of Pluto, it could have ejected enough debris to form Pluto's many moons. Further, if you look at the lower half of Pluto, it looks like the crust was reformed at a date later than the upper half. All of this could also have a bearing on the Pluto system's strange inclination.
Again just a though after looking at the picture.
5
Exhilarating to witness this monumental feat of exploration, yet simultaneously so sad that one will never know to where it will lead centuries from now.
3
If Pluto was a planet, well I would be excited. But, since it is only a dwarf planet, my enthusiasm is diminished in direct proportion to the difference in size between a planet and a dwarf planet. Regardless, the men and women at NASA should be well proud of this accomplishment!!
1
How does the smallness of Pluto diminish the magnitude of this achievement? (Perhaps you were being ironic.)
7
Perhaps the lack of craters on Pluto is because the number of potential impactors per cubic mile of space in its extremely large neighborhood is presumably much lower than their density is nearer to the sun.
6
The surface age estimate of ~100 million years already accounts for this. In other words, to get the estimate of ~100 million years for the surface age, you take the best-estimate of how many potential impactors there are out there (which as you point out is low), and then use that to estimate the rate at which craters should form on the surface. From this rate, the observed number of craters on the surface can be used to calculate the surface age.
The findings about Pluto's young surface, and its seeming mountain ranges, has me wondering whether it used to be somewhere else in the solar system. We know that Uranus is on its side and that Neptune's main moon, Triton, has a retrograde orbit that will eventually crash it into the planet. Is there any chance Pluto used to be another Neptune moon, for example?
6
Pluto was not likely ever in Neptune orbit. But Pluto is a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO), and Triton is also a KBO which simply happened to have the (mis)fortune of being captured into Neptune orbit early in solar system history. Since they are both rather large KBOs that formed in a similar place in the solar system, Pluto and Triton are rather similar, and so it's not really that surprising that they would behave similarly. It's been known since 1989 (from images taken during the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune) that Triton almost totally lacks craters, so it's not really that surprising to see an absence of craters on Pluto as well.
1
Fascinating. To this amateur, these mountains look rather different from mountains on Earth. Could that be because they are composed of "ice rock", not the kinds of rock we are familiar with on Earth? Or is it because of the unknown orogenic processes that formed them?
Can't wait to hear the experts' theories on how these mountains were born.
Can't wait to hear the experts' theories on how these mountains were born.
9
Some cynics will claim that New Horizons was too expensive when people on earth could better use the funds. Let's not forget that by trying to reach toward a few things beyond our immediate grasp, we nurture an infrastructure that improves technological and cultural productivity throughout the economy, and we nurture the aspirations of new generations who will continue that productivity. Given the enormity of the technological challenges facing us in this century, it is a price we have to pay.
32
Most people do not realize that most if not all of the technological wonders we have to day were owe there existence to the space race and cold war military industry of the last century. There was no driving need for miniaturized electronics until NASA needed a computer that could go into space.
1
"Only 112 years after the Wright Brothers..."
Imagine what the next century will bring. I can see industrialists launching robots to solar system planets, mining resources like water, and returning to Earth in reusable vehicles with treasures in tow. I envy the children of today and tomorrow.
Imagine what the next century will bring. I can see industrialists launching robots to solar system planets, mining resources like water, and returning to Earth in reusable vehicles with treasures in tow. I envy the children of today and tomorrow.
5
Earth has everything material that we need. Space is an adventure and a source of understanding, not a place to be.
1
Doug - "Imagine what the next century will bring."
In the 60's "science or science fiction" promised colonies on the moon and Mars, flying cars, personal jet packs, the end of war, famine and disease all coming in the next century. We are presently 15 years into that next century and NASA is still doing "flybys" with a very limited budget.
Imagine where we could be today if the treasure spent on Iraq and Afghanistan were instead spent on NASA.
In the 60's "science or science fiction" promised colonies on the moon and Mars, flying cars, personal jet packs, the end of war, famine and disease all coming in the next century. We are presently 15 years into that next century and NASA is still doing "flybys" with a very limited budget.
Imagine where we could be today if the treasure spent on Iraq and Afghanistan were instead spent on NASA.
When I was a child, the US spent about one percent of its GNP on NASA. Today, NASA's budget is closer to one-tenth of one percent. I've heard it speculated that thousands of years from now, if the US is remembered at all, it will be for being the first nation to send exploratory devices to visit not one planet, but all of them.
I look with interest and wonder at the photos, wondering what the spectral analysis will show about the chemicals that make up Pluto's surface, and the surfaces of its moons.
Then I read the comments. Some are full of wonder, like me. Others complain that the view isn't worth the money. They would expect a better show for what we'd paid for this. Knowledge apparently valued not at all, they'd rather just watch computer generated images. My joy in this discovery is tempered. However wonderous NASA's new findings, the world is still full of Philistines.
I look with interest and wonder at the photos, wondering what the spectral analysis will show about the chemicals that make up Pluto's surface, and the surfaces of its moons.
Then I read the comments. Some are full of wonder, like me. Others complain that the view isn't worth the money. They would expect a better show for what we'd paid for this. Knowledge apparently valued not at all, they'd rather just watch computer generated images. My joy in this discovery is tempered. However wonderous NASA's new findings, the world is still full of Philistines.
86
Or worse than philistines. Scarcely more than a century after the Wright brothers, as has been pointed out, we flew a machine to within 7800 miles of an object three billion miles away - yet at least 60,000 years since we first walked out of Africa, our species is still busy destroying its fellow travelers.
16
In just a matter of days, we'll mark the July 20, 1969, moon landing. Remembering the crude television images that documented the mission (which did improve over time), I'm awestruck by the technology that gives us an "up close and personal" view of this strange and icy world. Across three billion miles! Wow!
51
Wow is right. Consider that the cameras capturing these high res images were on a vehicle traveling at about 30,000 mph as it sped past its subject 7800 miles away. And we almost take for granted the wondrous nature of the telemetry that conveyed the images back to earth in a signal that sped our way at the speed of light over the course of four and a half hours. Maybe teleporting isn't so far fetched.
8
Sixmile,
It's great to dream of possibilities, but I think it's still good to keep a sense of the difficulties of manned space flight. One of my favorite science fiction films is Outland (1981), which depicts outer space as a very alien, tedious environment for humans. Not magical as in Star Wars and Star Trek. We are evolved to live on earth. It's one thing to feel wonder as we see what New Horizons is finding; it would be something else entirely to be out there with it.
It's great to dream of possibilities, but I think it's still good to keep a sense of the difficulties of manned space flight. One of my favorite science fiction films is Outland (1981), which depicts outer space as a very alien, tedious environment for humans. Not magical as in Star Wars and Star Trek. We are evolved to live on earth. It's one thing to feel wonder as we see what New Horizons is finding; it would be something else entirely to be out there with it.
So amazing, and wonderfully mind-bending. I would love to learn more about the technology that makes transmission of these images possible! Can any astrophysicists or tech geniuses out there explain (in simple terms) the technology behind transmitting these images over such a vast distance?
19
Radio waves, focussed and collected by special antennas, and error-correcting codes.
1
Remember your 56k dialup modem? Well, this is only 4k and all the science packages together only use 30 watts so the plutonium battery can still power them for 10+ years. How many Energizer bunnies would that be?
3
It's called a radio.
1
Finally a place inhospitable enough to send climate collapse deniers. Mars turned out to be too lush for them.
34
"water"....alittle too quick with THAT conclusion. Sounds more like wishful thinking than reality. Frozen methane, frozen nitrogen: yup, no problem.
Water? Nope, no way. Too far from the sun, too cold; water just could not happen ever at any point in its history.
Water? Nope, no way. Too far from the sun, too cold; water just could not happen ever at any point in its history.
Actually, I think I disagree. Water exists everywhere in our Solar system, even in liquid forms. Water on pluto may be more like iron on our world... It exists in liquid form in "magma" under the surface and becomes hard has rock on the surface.
6
With all due respect current theory is that the water in our solar system came from the very same objects that probably made Pluto.
12
Water ice. There is no bottom limit of temperature for H2O to form. It's just that when the temperature is less than 0 C, it takes the form of water ice, like on Pluto. Nothing surprising about this finding. It's thought that much of the water on early Earth might have come from bombardments of objects originating in the Kuiper Belt, which is where Pluto happens to be.
24
Today's photos of Pluto rekindle the excitement that many of us felt in decades past and that may soon be a thing of the past. The scientific knowledge, technological advancements and sheer joy of exploration do not preclude solving the problems we have on earth. We can do both by funding exploration where we're sure to make new discoveries at more reasonable costs - in our ocean depths.
31
Amazing! Billions of dollars later and all we have to show for it is black and white pictures.....the least they could do is doctor them up a little and make them in 3d...They got away with YOUR wallet this far might as well make a production out of it.
1
Only the first few hours of a data stream that will go on for 16 months Give it a chance. I would rather that my money went to increase human knowledge than to kill people.
57
I understand what you are saying about the cost. We could certainly have done a lot with that $700 million to help some people here on earth. But I also believe that it can't all be just milk and bread, either. I don't know what practical good for us or the world will come of this, maybe nothing. It just may be a way to show off our wealth and brains to other countries. Or it may eventually help in medical research. But if mom and dad can't take a night off once in a while, without the kids, and splurge on a dinner and movie, then what's the use of living.
12
$700 million is 0.7 billion, so you can drop the plural in billions. And what this mission has cost over 9 years is the *annual* tax breaks given to Exxon Mobil, which is just one highly profitable company. But sure, let's all dig our heads into the sand like ostriches, turn away from expanding our horizons (pun intended) and chat mindlessly "drill, baby, drill" as you might prefer us to do.
47
Exciting, but is it $700 million worth of exciting?
1
Every bit of the money spent on this was paid to human beings who paid income tax. Then they paid sales tax. And the money they spent went to other people who did the same. Money does not just vanish into a black hole because the government spends it.
83
No. It will probably end up to be more like $700 billion worth of exciting.
17
About half the price of a modern cruise ship, from which absolutely nothing is learned.
61
I have been waiting for this since I was a young child. The big "?" or "artist's impression" of Pluto always made this (former) planet seem like the odd man out in my old solar system primers, but the god of the underworld is at last stepping out of the darkness. It boggles the mind to think that there are worlds without end out there just waiting to be observed. Let's build a dozen more "New Horizons" and send them to Europa, Enceladus, Miranda, and everywhere that our engineering allows. The return on investment--our expanding knowledge of the cosmos--is inspirational and priceless.
71
@Timothy C: "... my old solar system primers ..."
Could you post more details about these (title, author, date)?
Could you post more details about these (title, author, date)?
If I didn't know better I would call that a planet! I think I will.
37
Wish I were there with my cell phone.
5
That made me lol. Thanks.
4
Seeing these amazing pictures of Pluto made me feel like a kid again, remembering how excited I was watching Apollo 11 land on the moon in 1969. What a breath of freash air to take our minds off of ourselves and our problems on our planet and to gaze at a wonderment of another. Thank You New Horizons!!!
94
Yes, rejuvenating! Considering that candidates for the Presidential nomination will spend at least $700MM in TV ads that subtract from the store of knowledge, the cost of New Horizon seems modest.
Wonderful, the mathematics, the optics, the engineering, and, above all, the sheer lust for new knowledge. Humanity at its most wonderful: marrying imagination and curiosity to science and manufacturing. Go, America, spend our treasures on Pluto and don't neglect poverty.
122
Indeed a phenomenal feat for mankind, simply unimaginable 60 years ago. I would simply remind you that nary $1 of the $700 million went into space, but rather into salaries and benefits for the engineers and technicians, to the manufacturers, insurers, utility companies, etc., and ultimately onto dry cleaners, restaurants, political contributions, gym memberships, car payments, taxes, etc. The economic multiplier effect is at work here on earth, benefitting many. And with so much focus on educating youth in STEM, isn't it wonderful to have places like NASA and the JHU Applied Physics Lab that make careers of it!
27
Which is a better way to fight poverty? Pay well educated scientists, engineers, and technicians to expand human knowledge or something else?
9
You understand economics. Probably a few thousand dollars in raw materials are actually in space the rest has recycled hundreds of times over in our economy. This one project has put more money into the American economy than a major iphone maker that will remain nameless ever will.
5
Both the planetary and particle physicists have something to cheer about, as should everyone else. Both events are newsworthy.