Pluto is a Planet!

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Michael Watson

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Message 1698875 - Posted: 6 Jul 2015, 3:00:46 UTC

Some very good news, indeed, from NASA. The problem with New Horizons was quickly traced. It was caused by a timing error in a command sequence recently sent to the space probe. The error will be promptly corrected. Normal science operations are planned to resume on Tues., the 7th. It is expected that the interrupted operation of New Horizons will not have a substantial effect on the overall mission.
Link to article with more details, below:

http://thespacewriter.com/wp/2015/07/05/new-horizons-returns-to-science-ops-july-7/
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Message 1699039 - Posted: 6 Jul 2015, 18:42:08 UTC

I really hope they have sorted out the problem(s). It would be a terrible letdown if,after all those years, they fail to get all the data that is possible to obtain during that one shot fly by.
Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.
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Message 1699045 - Posted: 6 Jul 2015, 19:03:05 UTC
Last modified: 6 Jul 2015, 19:10:03 UTC

TODAY: Media Call to Discuss New Horizons Mission Plans Following Spacecraft Anomaly, 3 p.m. EDT, Which means now.
http://www.nasa.gov/news/media/newsaudio/index.html
New Horizons systems are all functioning.
The mission remains on track to conduct the entire close flyby sequence as planned, including the July 14 flyby of Pluto.
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Message 1699649 - Posted: 8 Jul 2015, 22:25:27 UTC - in response to Message 1699045.  

Science will be poring in for sixteen months, from New Horizons.


The map combines images takes between 27 June and 3 July

Scientists have released their latest map of Pluto, using images from the inbound New Horizons spacecraft.

It unwraps the visible parts of the sphere on to a flat projection, giving another view of the features that have started to emerge in recent days.

Evident are the light and dark patches at the equator, including one long dark band being dubbed "the whale".

The US space agency's (Nasa) New Horizons probe is now less than seven days away from its historic flyby.

It is due to pass over the surface of the dwarf planet at a distance of less than 13,000km, grabbing a mass of images and other kinds of scientific data.

The pictures at that point will be pin sharp, showing targets on the surface of the 2,300km-wide body at a resolution of better than 100m per pixel.


The spots are part of a dark band that wraps around much of Pluto's equatorial region

As of Wednesday, New Horizons was less that 7.5 million km from Pluto.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33440926
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Message 1700245 - Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 17:11:25 UTC

The latest view By NASA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, Maryland | Published: Friday, July 10, 2015......"New Horizons was about 3.7 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Pluto and Charon when it snapped this portrait early July 9, 2015, UTC. Color information obtained earlier in the mission from the Ralph instrument has been added."



"Sour Grapes make a bitter Whine." <(0)>
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Message 1700318 - Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 21:27:08 UTC

The left side of the area they've taken to calling the 'heart' looks to me like three sides of a square, with an alternating light and dark border around it.
The region called the 'whale' looks like an enormous depression. The most recent map shows streaks on either broad side of it, leading toward the 'whale'. Looks rather like mobile, light colored material, moving downslope into the area.
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Message 1700633 - Posted: 12 Jul 2015, 0:40:53 UTC - in response to Message 1700318.  

Exciting!



New Horizons: Last view of Pluto's spots


The four dark spots' intrigue is their regular spacing and size

Take a good look at the latest picture of Pluto because it shows the face of the dwarf planet that will not be seen during next week's historic flyby.

The US space agency's New Horizons probe was less than 2.5 million km from the diminutive world on Saturday and closing in fast.

Come Tuesday, it will be grabbing shots from an altitude of just 12,500km.

But the newly published image, showing Pluto's "spots", is of the hemisphere that will soon rotate out of view.

It will not be seen again until after New Horizons has gone behind the 2,300km-wide dwarf, and then only in the faint light reflected off the little planet's biggest moon, Charon.

That in itself should make for some fascinating science, however, because it will tell researchers what happens on Pluto's dark side.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33496883
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Message 1701135 - Posted: 13 Jul 2015, 18:50:12 UTC

Pluto's diameter is 2370 km, larger than thought before.
Tullio
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Message 1701208 - Posted: 13 Jul 2015, 21:50:27 UTC - in response to Message 1701135.  

New Horizons Probe Finds Out Pluto's Bigger (and Icier) Than We Thought

LAUREL, Md. — With less than a day to go before NASA's New Horizons mission zooms past Pluto, scientists reported on Monday that the dwarf planet isn't quite as dwarfish as they thought — in fact, it's the largest known solar system object beyond Neptune.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/new-horizons-probe-finds-out-plutos-bigger-icier-we-thought-n391321
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Message 1701235 - Posted: 13 Jul 2015, 23:07:05 UTC - in response to Message 1701208.  

Now to reclassify it as a planet!
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Message 1701337 - Posted: 14 Jul 2015, 5:48:10 UTC - in response to Message 1701235.  

Now to reclassify it as a planet!


That would be great!
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Message 1701370 - Posted: 14 Jul 2015, 7:32:39 UTC - in response to Message 1701235.  

Now to reclassify it as a planet!


Why?


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Message 1701387 - Posted: 14 Jul 2015, 9:03:21 UTC - in response to Message 1701374.  
Last modified: 14 Jul 2015, 9:03:39 UTC

Now NASA is naming Ceres as a dwarf planet, not an asteroid. So Pluto could be a minor planet, I agree.
Tullio
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Message 1701405 - Posted: 14 Jul 2015, 11:21:38 UTC - in response to Message 1700245.  

The latest view By NASA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, Maryland | Published: Friday, July 10, 2015......"New Horizons was about 3.7 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Pluto and Charon when it snapped this portrait early July 9, 2015, UTC. Color information obtained earlier in the mission from the Ralph instrument has been added."



Beautiful picture!
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Message 1701406 - Posted: 14 Jul 2015, 11:55:47 UTC

Closest approach at 13718 km according to theJohns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
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Message 1701489 - Posted: 14 Jul 2015, 21:38:13 UTC - in response to Message 1701408.  

From NASA:

Events
TODAY: Pluto Q+A With New Horizons Team on Twitter, 6 p.m. EDT #askNASA
TODAY: New Horizons 'Phone Home' Countdown, 8:30 p.m. EDT, NASA TV
TODAY: New Horizons Media Briefing, 9:30 p.m. EDT, NASA TV
Wed., July 22: Expedition 44 Launch to International Space Station, 5:02 p.m. EDT
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Message 1701565 - Posted: 15 Jul 2015, 2:59:18 UTC

New Horizons has again contacted Earth. It successfully passed by Pluto, and through its system of moons. Beginning tomorrow, it will be transmitting close up images, and other scientific results back to us. It is expected that it will take about 16 months to send the accumulated data, in full. Link to news article with further details, below:
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/nasas-new-horizons-probe-phones-home-after-pluto-flyby-n391611
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Message 1701568 - Posted: 15 Jul 2015, 3:31:47 UTC
Last modified: 15 Jul 2015, 3:32:09 UTC

I am wondering if New Horizons, which passed 12500 km from Pluto, has felt the influence of the gravitatiobnal field of Pluto. Was its trajectory changed in any way and also its speed? A slingshot effect is often used to increase the speed of spacecrafts passing around a planet.
Tullio
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Message 1701579 - Posted: 15 Jul 2015, 4:02:05 UTC - in response to Message 1701568.  

I am wondering if New Horizons, which passed 12500 km from Pluto, has felt the influence of the gravitatiobnal field of Pluto. Was its trajectory changed in any way and also its speed? A slingshot effect is often used to increase the speed of spacecrafts passing around a planet.
Tullio

I'm sure it was and when the data is published...
http://www.boulder.swri.edu/pkb/ssr/ssr-rex.pdf
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Message 1701652 - Posted: 15 Jul 2015, 8:38:11 UTC - in response to Message 1701374.  

Personally I would rather they called Pluto a "minor" planet than a dwarf one. I think that would assuage public opinion a bit.

It's easier to offend Dwarfs, than Minorities.
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Message boards : Science (non-SETI) : Pluto is a Planet!


 
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