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New Horizons Only One Year from Pluto

Laurie61

By Laurie61
in The Astro Lounge

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Laurie61

Laurie61

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In July 2015, NASA will discover a new world.  No one knows what to expect when the alien landscape comes into focus. At this point, only one thing is certain:  Its name is Pluto.

On July 14th, 2015, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will make a close flyby of that distant world. "Because Pluto has never been visited up-close by a spacecraft from Earth, everything we see will be a first," says Adriana Ocampo, the Program Executive for NASA's New Frontiers program at NASA headquarters

New Horizons’ flyby of Pluto will occur almost exactly 50 years after Mariner 4’s flyby of Mars—and it could shock observers just as much.

By late April 2015, New Horizons will be close enough to Pluto to take pictures rivaling those of Hubble—and it only gets better from there.  At closest approach in July 2015, New Horizons will be a scant 10,000 km above the surface of Pluto.  If New Horizons flew over Earth at the same altitude, it could see individual buildings and their shapes.

Flying so close to Pluto could be risky business.  Pluto has five known moons: Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Numerical simulations show that meteoroids striking those satellites could send debris into orbit around Pluto, forming a debris system that waxes and wanes over time in response to changes in the bombardment.  During the approach to Pluto, the science team will keep a wary eye out for debris, and guide the spacecraft away from danger.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/14jul_pluto2015/

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/

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iamjulian

iamjulian

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It will be amazing to see the images coming back, though we are spoiled because a few months before that encounter, we'll get Dawn coming close to Ceres.  Now that one could be very interesting as it should look very different to Vesta - maybe signs of water ice and a thin atmosphere.  One thing for sure, 2015 will completely change our view of the solar system.

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Kbramley

Kbramley

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Such a shame it isn't spending more time exiting this fascinating part of the solar system, but that's the price of getting there fast unfortunately, I do hope they find another suitable object further out within the lifespan of the probe.

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kirkster501

kirkster501

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I've been following this mission with Interest.  I have "seen" Pluto - or least the star like object that is Pluto - through a "16 Dob.  Looks just like a very faint star even in that aperture- as I am sire many others here know very well -  and it had to be pointed out to me on star charts and eventually I saw it.

Next year's encounter should be fascinating.  I think NH will only be in the vicinity of Pluto for a few hours, it's moving that fast....

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  • 4 weeks later...
Laurie61

Laurie61

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A quick update.  :smiley:

NASA’s New Horizons snapped the big dwarf planet and its nearby moon for 5 days (July 19th-24th, 2014). Charon is 750 - 753 miles diameter, the largest known compared to the size of its host planet. Some consider Pluto-Charon a binary planet 

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