With its data about Pluto being relayed back to Earth, the New Horizons space probe has revealed one groundbreaking discovery after another. #Plutossurface #newhorizons #dwarfplanet - http://clapway.com/2015/09/25/plutos-surface-colorful-snakelike123/

With its data being relayed back to Earth, the New Horizons space probe has revealed one groundbreaking discovery after another. Its latest batch of images shows the Plutonian surface, and it looks very much like snakeskin in texture.

William McKinnon, a member of the geology, geophysics and imaging team for the space probe, revealed in a statement that Pluto has a unique and perplexing landscape that stretches over hundreds of miles. Its surface appears to resemble tree bark or reptile scales rather than the textures typically found in geology. The area captured by the probe may have resulted due to a combination of internal tectonic forces and the sublimation of ice by Pluto’s faint sunlight.

Pluto Has A Rich color palette too

The images downlinked on Sept 19 reveal that Pluto’s surface colors, when enhanced, appear to have details of pale blues, yellows, oranges and deeper reds. John Spencer, GGI deputy lead from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, adds that many landforms have their own distinct colors, which are telling of a complex geological and climatological landscape – one that is just beginning to be decoded for the dwarf planet.

Maps of Methane Ice on PLuto

These discoveries have been revealed though a methane ice map of Pluto’s surface, which also holds surprising contrasts: Sputnik Planum, an icy plane on Pluto, for example, has a abundant amount of methane, while the informally-called Cthulhu Regio region has no traces of methane aside from the small bit found on few isolated ridges and crater rims. The mountains along the Western flank of Sputnik Planum also are void of methane.

Researchers are uncertain as to why conditions are the way they are. However, New Horizons’ ability to make compositional maps across the surface of Pluto will help scientists learn more about the dwarf planet in an attempt to understand its inner workings. Although these new images and maps only reveal Pluto’s color and composition, much more data will be discovered as more images are down-linked and New Horizons continues its journey through the cosmos.

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NEW HORIZONS TELLS US WHAT’S UP ABOUT SPACE. SO DOES SPACE SCOUTS SUMMER ADVENTURE:

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Surface Of Pluto Is Colorful And Snakelike

New Horizons Finds Flowing Ice On Pluto? - http://clapway.com/2015/08/13/new-horizons-finds-flowing-ice-102/

One month has passed since New Horizons finally made its flyby of Pluto, limning the surface in spectacular definition with its Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). The best part of this having happened a month ago is that these following months may be the greatest treat of the entire ordeal, because only after New Horizons sifts through its data for weeks, only after NASA develops and analyzes received telemetry and data are we to see the secrets of Pluto’s surface for ourselves.

NEW HORIZONS CARRIES ON

Recently, a new batch of close-ups was released by NASA which reveals evidence of eccentric ice flows across Pluto’s surface, which means the Earth is not the only body in this solar system with glacier-geology. New Horizon’s LORRI shows a major ice sheet that has glided over the dwarf planet’s surface in a way very similar to glacier movement on Earth.

Here on the 3rd rock from the sun, glaciers usually progress by surface flows round the bends of obstacles, toward the vertex of deepest depression, usually creating a sort of swirly surface, as viewed from above. Now these photos from New Horizons’ LORRI have shown us that such topological patterns are not unique to Earth.

GLACIER’S LOCATION

Scientists believe that this glacier-like movement could still be in motion, but it is difficult to determine if this is the case from the photographs alone. The ice flow flows from the center of Sputnik Planum, a smooth, craterless plain which lies in “the heart of the heart” of Pluto. This region, estimated to be no more than 100 million years old (roughly 1.4 times as long ago as the extinction event of the dinosaurs), is not only young, but also probably still undergoing geological change.

“We’ve only seen surfaces like this on active worlds like Earth and Mars,” pointed out mission co-investigator John Spencer of SwRI. “I’m really smiling.”

ICE COMPOSITE COMPOSES PLAINS

Ice on Pluto’s heart-shaped plain is composed of mostly nitrogen, but there are also rich traces of carbon monoxide and methane. Ralph, New Horizons’ other instrument, showed that carbon monoxide levels in the ice gradually increases as the device is pointed towards the center of Pluto’s heart.

NEW HORIZONS FOR SEMANTICS?

In addition to eliminating Earth’s uniquity when it comes to glaciers, this recent discovery has led many to question the fundamentals of glaciers, such as whether glaciers of varying chemical compositions are still worthy of the designation “glaciers,” and whether the term can even signify extraterrestrial phenomena. But this isn’t an exercise in the philosophy of language, so we turn to the National Snow and Ice Data Center for a definition: Glaciers are an amalgam of fallen snow that’ve compressed into large, thickened ice masses over a good number of years. Since it is difficult to include nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane ice into a list of phenomena formed by snow, both the media and scientists are perfectly happy using the term “glacier-like” to refer to the above described phenomena.

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New Horizons Finds Flowing Ice On Pluto?

Water On Ceres? Dawn Spacecraft Finds Evidence of Sub-Surface Oceans - http://clapway.com/2015/08/02/water-on-ceres-dawn-spacecraft-finds-evidence-of-sub-surface-oceans-101/

We have seen a lot of great astronomical accomplishments in the last month. New Horizons’ flyby of Pluto, the discovery of Earth-like (super-earth) planets only 21 light-years away, and Rosetta’s discovery of the chemical compounds necessary to generate life on Comet 67P giving first empirical support to the notion of space-seeded biogenesis, and evolution.

DAWN RENDEZVOUS WITH CERES

But recently, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft spiraled into its third and closest orbit of Ceres, and now the spacecraft has finally entered orbit just a few miles over the dwarf planet’s surface. Since then, mission control has released color-coded images which show inconsistencies in Ceres’ topological structure, in both valleys and hills.

Similar to Saturn’s two moons Tethys and Dione are Ceres’, Ceres also has craters encirclilng the planet in a way that suggests an old, tempered surface. Mission Scientist Paul Schenk commented that those two moons of Saturn’s are similar in both size and density.

But something stands out on Ceres. There are two impact craters named Dantu and Ezinu that are unusually deep. Near their edges, two impact basins called Kerwan and Yalode are larger, but ordinarily shallow.

Another member of the Dawn science team named Ralph Jaumann (also of the German Aerospace Center) believes the presence of these differing features is actually a sign of “increasing ice mobility with crater size age.”

This means that, because of its large craters, Ceres could in fact be some sort of water world with subsurface oceans.

“Dawn has the potential for making many paradigm-shifting discoveries. Ceres may have active hydrological processes leading to seasonal polar caps of water frost, altering our understanding of the interior of these bodies,” read a NASA statement.

WATER ON CERES?

Even more exciting is the possibility for the dwarf planet to hold down a thin yet permanent atmosphere. Ceres’ enigmatic bright spots, shining from the bottom of a crater, seem to actually support a small, localized atmosphere by sublimating emerging chemicals out into space at a high enough rate of flow to create pressure, i.e. atmosphere.

These craters and peaks were captured in color photos and released to the masses by NASA on July 28th. NASA was also able to surmise that Ceres’ diameter is about 598 miles, which leaves it a bit smaller than the 607 miles scientists originally suspected.

 

 

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UNTIL WE BREAK THE ICE WITH CERES, HERE’S SOMETHING MORE DOWN TO EARTH:

 

Water On Ceres? Dawn Spacecraft Finds Evidence of Sub-Surface Oceans

New Horizons: Nitrogen Ice Flows and Beautiful Haze - http://clapway.com/2015/07/25/new-horizons-nitrogen-ice-flows-and-beautiful-haze654/

As NASA continues to receive and develop the massive stock of imagery and data from New Horizons’ recent flyby of Pluto, the dwarf planet continues to surprise and amaze scientists and enthusiasts alike. The latest images released on Friday reveal a breathtaking silhouette of the dwarf planet’s thin atmosphere, and lays bare nitrogen ice flowing on the surface.

For any still catching up, New Horizons recently earned its place in history as the very first probe to reach Pluto and its five moons on July 14th. The probe was sent into scientific overdrive during its short flyby because it was going much too fast to orbit the dwarf planet.

COULDN’T WE LEARN MORE ABOUT PLUTO IF WE STAYED IN ORBIT?

The thing about interplanetary space travel is…gravity. We couldn’t hope to pack enough chemical fuel to launch anything to the outer planets, because at a certain point we would have to add fuel to lift the extra fuel off of the planet, and more fuel for that fuel’s weight, etc. So instead, NASA sends its probes to rendezvous with objects with particularly high gravity, like Jupiter or Saturn. Then the gas giants’ immense gravity is used to sling-shot the probe, multiplying its speed to a great enough magnitude to shorten its journey by decades. This reduction of transit time also reduces the likelihood of other mishaps, like encounters with space dust travelling faster than the speed of sound, or mechanical failures. Because of its high velocity, there was simply no way for Pluto to slow the spacecraft into a stable orbit, so New Horizons had to work fast.

NEW FINDINGS

NASA’s most recent analyses show subtly differentiable layers of haze in Pluto’s nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane atmosphere. The atmosphere is roughly one hundred miles deep. “This is our first peek at Pluto’s atmosphere,” exclaimed Michael Summers, New Horizons scientist with George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He added that these atmospheric particles’ slow descent to the surface may be responsible for Pluto’s reddish hue.

What’s really strange is that Pluto’s hazy layer is five times thicker than computer models predicted, but its total mass seems to have been cut in half in just two short years. “That’s pretty astonishing, at least to an atmospheric scientist. That tells you something is happening,” Summers opined.

SIGNS OF GEOLOGIC ACTIVITY

More of NASA’s new data from New Horizons revealed what look like glacial ice flows. But Pluto’s ground temperature is roughly -400 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes it far too cold for the ice to be composed of water.

PLUTO’S SURFACE AS OLD (OR YOUNG) AS DINOSAURS

This not only confirms, but strengthens the fact that much of Pluto’s surface is basically as old as the dinosaurs, roughly a few hundred million years old, which is extremely young on a planetary scale.

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New Horizons: Nitrogen Ice Flows and Beautiful Haze

Closeup Images of Pluto - http://clapway.com/2015/07/16/closeup-images-of-pluto878/

When New Horizons executed its flyby of Pluto on July 14th, 2015 at a distance of 47,800 miles (77,000 km), it snapped a series of hi-res, closeup images. The first ever, in fact. The two NASA revealed to us in a Live Stream conference yesterday, one closeup image of Pluto and the other of its moon, Charon, have given reason for the scientists to come up with new theories to how planets form.

PLUTO AND CHARON ARE ACTIVE PLANETS

The new photos show that both the dwarf planet and its moon Charon have recently been geographically active. From Pluto’s closeup image we can see massive ice mountains, while on Charon we can actually see a canyon so deep you can actually see through the edge of the planet (at about 2 o’clock, roughly 5 miles deep!).

“The most striking thing about this image is, we have not yet found a single impact crater on this region,” said John Spencer, member of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado during a news briefing this Wednesday. If you look again at the closeup image of Pluto, you may ask yourself why you didn’t notice that right away. This is very significant, because the presence (or absence) of craters indicated a planet’s crust’s age.

PLUTO’S SURFACE AS OLD AS DINOSAURS

“Just eyeballing it, we think it has to be probably less than 100 million years old,” estimated spencer, deputy leader of New Horizons’ geology and geophysics investigation (CGI) team. This means that Pluto’s geology was probably active while the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. And that is very recent, on a cosmic scale. “It might be active right now. With no craters, you just can’t put a lower limit on how active it might be.”

To be clear, all of this new scientific knowledge was garnered from one photo of one percent of Pluto’s surface. Jeff Moore, of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, said of the surface: “[it’s] one of the youngest surfaces we’ve ever seen in the solar system.”

OTHER ACTIVE BODIES, OTHER EXPLANATIONS

A few other small planetary bodies in our solar system have shown ongoing geologic activity. Enceladus, a geyser-shooting moon of Saturn, and the hot and volcanic Jovian satellite Io. The difference is that these planets’ interiors are heated by the gravitational tugs of Saturn and Jupiter, respectively. This process is known as tidal heating.

“This can’t happen on Pluto, because there is no giant body that can deform it on a regular basis,” wondered Spencer. “This is telling us that you do not need tidal heating to power geologic activity on icy moons. That’s a really important discovery that we just made this morning,” he concluded in deadpan humor to applause of the audience.

The thing is that Pluto and Charon aren’t tugging on one another, though, because “Pluto and Charon are in tidal equilibrium,” objected Alan Stern. “Charon orbits equivalent of geosynchronous orbit, and it is also spinning at the same rate that pluto spins. So there is no significant change in tidal energy anymore.”

PRELIMINARY HYPOTHESES

One hypothesis as to how Pluto and Charon have managed to remain active is by having never lost their internal radioactive heat for a much longer amount of time than scientists had estimated possible. There is also the possibility that both Charon and Pluto once possessed subsurface Oceans, like Europa, which froze so gradually that heat was continually released into either body’s crusts.

Whatever it is we continue to learn of the Plutonian system as images and data of this brief flyby continue to return to Earth, one thing is for certain: the cost and risk involved in sending this piano-sized probe to flyby Pluto was worth the quantity and significance of scientific knowledge we are gaining, and we know this with one closeup image of Pluto.

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Closeup Images of Pluto

New Horizons" New Images of Pluto Echoes Mars" Camera Debut - http://clapway.com/2015/07/15/new-horizons-new-images-of-pluto-echoes-mars-camera-debut324/

With all of the excitement in anticipation of the imminent arrival of Hi-Res photos of Pluto and its Moon Charon from New Horizons’ flyby yesterday, this is a golden opportunity to remember how planetary exploration by space probe began. Fifty years ago, on July 14th, 1965, NASA’s Mariner 4 captured 23 closeup images of Mars, that dusty next-door neighbor of ours. It was the first time we had seen another planet so close.

NEW HORIZONS ECHOES MARINER 4

Just as we are about to echo with Pluto and New Horizons, the images arrived precisely one day after Mariner 4 successfully engaged its flyby of Mars. Fifty years later, we’re about to repeat the maneuver, in a cosmic dance that’s symphony to Mariner 4’s prelude.

Alan Stern, an academic expert at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, agrees: “You couldn’t have written a script that was better.” Just like Mariner 4, New Horizons is teasing science lovers, prudishly forcing us all to wait for hour after hour until the final unveiling occurs. One should note that today a debutante move faster; millennials aren’t waiting as long as the baby boomers did.

NEW IMAGES WILL COME QUICKER

This afternoon, NASA is receiving a smorgasbord of imagery and scientific data, which will all be transmitted to NASA headquarters in a matter of minutes. In 1965, however, each image Mariner 4’s television camera captured required 10 hours to be uploaded and transmitted.

“If someone had asked ‘What do you expect to see?’ we would have said ‘craters’ …[yet] the fact that craters were there, and a predominant land form, was somehow surprising,” reminisces Robert Leighton, Caltech geology professor, who dressed Marner with its camera, and its vast assemblage of instruments.

BEGINNINGS OF INTERPLANETARY EXPLORATION

Leighton and several more Caltech physicists, engineers and geologists were responsible for lifting the then-infantile NASA and its subordinate Jet Propulsion Laboratory out of the crib, and throwing it out the window hard enough to achieve orbit. woof.

John Grotzinger, chairman of Caltech’s Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences describes the atmosphere of the times: “These early flyby missions showed the enormous potential of Mars to provide insight into the evolution of a close cousin to Earth and stimulated the creation of a program dedicated to iterative exploration involving orbiters, landers and rovers.”

ALIEN AESTHETICS, HUMAN SENTIMENTS

Since Mariner 4 first graced Mars’ atmosphere, 19 probes have followed in kind, orbiting and landing on Mars. However, twenty-five other probes have failed. But the sacrifices were certainly not in vain, because the advent of imaging other planets coincided with our first true scientific enquiry into the planets, and sent the captivated the public at large with contradictory sentiments like the beauty in alienness.

Let’s enjoy Pluto, and celebrate history today.

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New Horizons" New Images of Pluto Echoes Mars" Camera Debut

New Horizons Carries Remains of Pluto"s Discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh - http://clapway.com/2015/07/12/new-horizons-carries-remains-of-plutos-discoverer-clyde-tombaugh567/

While we wait for New Horizons to begin its flyby of Pluto, there are some sentiments of the more Earthly persuasion for us to consider. Firstly, Clyde Tombaugh, the ashes of the man who first discovered that distant, icy world in its lonely dance with Charon 85 years ago, are contained in the spacecraft. His remains will have reached Pluto’s system on the fourteenth of this month.

WORTHY STORAGE

Also stored on New Horizons is the 1991 U.S. postage stamp nearing its end of use date in this country. It’s mantra–”Pluto Not Yet Explored”–is brazenly etched at bottom. There are also two state quarters, one of Florida, where the probe was launched, and also Maryland, HQ of New Horizons’ producers and flight control.

In fact, a total of nine lovely mementos are stored aboard the New Horizons, and this number was chosen intentionally.

A DEMOTED WAND

Upon New Horizons’ launch from Cape Canaveral on January 19th of 2006, Pluto was still officially the ninth planet in our solar system. Its present, demoted status as a dwarf planet was assigned seven months post-launch.

It was Tombaugh’s widow and two children who offered an ounce of the man’s ashes for his final journey to Pluto. The farm-boy-cum-astronomer’s ashes are sealed away in a 2-inch aluminum capsule inscribed with the following words:

“Interned herein are remains of American Clyde W. Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto and the solar system’s ‘third zone.’ Adelle and Muron’s boy, Patricia’s husband, Annette and Alden’s father, astronomer, teacher, punster, and friend: Clyde Tombaugh (1906-1997)”

TOMBAUGH’S FAMILY TO UNITE FOR NEW HORIZONS’ FLYBY

Annette Tombaugh-Sitze and her younger brother Alden are in their seventies, but still plan on being present at the flight operation base at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, when Tuesday’s historic flyby occurs. The two’s mother passed away in 2012 at ninety-nine years of age.

Annette spoke of the event in a NASA interview posted online: “I think my dad would be thrilled with the New Horizons. I mean, who wouldn’t be? When he looked at Pluto, it was just a speck of light.”

DETAILS OF CARGO

The Pluto-stamp mentioned above depicts the planet as a gray hue with orange flecks, which was an artist’s best rendering based on what NASA knew of the tiny planet pre-1991, which, to be earnest, didn’t amount to much. Only recently has New Horizons revealed the planet to be a copper-colored, icy and bright world. However, Mark Saunders, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service said in an email last week that “[n]o stamp has ever traveled this far!”

A piece of SpaceShipOne has also been attached to New Horizons. SpaceShipOne was the first manned private space plane to reach suborbital flight back in 2004, winning the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

New Horizons also contains two U.S. flags and two CDs, the first of which contains photos of the New Horizons’ team members, the second contains the names of 434,738 names of the people who signed up online in advance.

 

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New Horizons Carries Remains of Pluto"s Discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh

New Horizons" Pluto Map Reveals Strange Bands and Patches - http://clapway.com/2015/07/08/new-horizons-reveals-strange-bands-and-patches987/

One could safely assume most readers didn’t covet their Moon or Mars Maps in their childhood. But there’s always a chance to make amends for your kids’. A new map of Pluto that scientists have constructed from images captured by the famed spacecraft New Horizons has just hit the proverbial press.

Pluto map is a flat representation made from spherical pieces

The map unravels visible pieces of the sphere onto a flat, projected representation, revealing more features scientists have begun to take note of in recent days. They include patches near the equator which alternate between light and dark, and a singular, long, dark band scientists have named “the whale.”

Moby Dick’s Darker Cousin is only the beginning in a string of photos and data

New Horizons, the spacecraft that captured Moby Dick’s darker cousin, is only seven days away from its groundbreaking flyby of Pluto. New Horizons will pass Pluto’s surface at an altitude of about 13,000km. In this first pass, it will snap a veritable plethora of images and other scientific data. But these first pictures of the dwarf planet will be of a sophistication of an entirely different order than those of the Moon, or even our first studies of Mars. New Horizons will capture 5,000 times the data that Mariner did during its visit to the Red Planet. Moreover, targeted areas on Pluto’s surface will be displayed at a resolution better than 100 meters per pixel.

Images available so far are of much lower resolution, being assembled from a combination of the probe’s high-resolution (black and white) LORRI camera and its lower-resolution color imager, which we lovingly refer to as Ralph. Even so, we can still see a slew of different characteristics on the dwarf planet.

A white area near the center of Pluto will be directly below New Horizons upon the probe’s closest pass. On the east side is a splotchy place that’s been the root of the most heated discussion to the present moment. No one seems to know what the blobby patches are, but every one of them is a few kilometers in diameter.

Whale’s “tail” has weird craterlike donut

In what’s called the whale’s “tail,” is an object seeming to take the form of a doughnut. This could actually be an impact crater or a volcano, but at this low resolution either interpretation is equally warranted, i.e., is really unwarranted.

New Horizons has totally recovered from its 4th of July weekend hiccup, when it accidentally entered protective safe mode and dropped its connection with Earth for over an hour. The engineers behind New Horizons’ software have stated they understand the cause of the computer glitch, and have ruled it out of the realm of possibility for the next few days. Now let’s hope the Plutonians haven’t hacked our probe.

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New Horizons" Pluto Map Reveals Strange Bands and Patches

New Faces and Mysterious Spots of Pluto Captured Thanks to New Horizons - http://clapway.com/2015/07/02/new-faces-and-mysterious-spots-of-pluto-captured-thanks-to-new-horizons654/

The New Horizons spacecraft is closing in on Pluto, and every day it sends fascinating new images of the dwarf planet that–as expected–are exceeding our expectations. The most recent photos show two distinct faces and a series of intriguing spots in full color. Earlier worries of lethal space debris have been reneged, much to the New Horizons’ NASA team’s relief.

IMAGE ORIENTATION

The newest images of Pluto and its moon Charon, captured by New Horizons’ Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and its Ralph Instrument, show the two bodies as they would appear to the naked eye, with half of Pluto imaged over its circular body (on the right). This would mean that what looks like the south pole is actually the equator.

INTRIGUING FEATURES TO NOTE

Around the equator, or what appears as the South Pole, are spots of about 300 miles (480 km) in diameter, with a surface area approximately the size of Missouri. These spots seem to have consistent size and spacing, and they trace a band across the dwarf planet. Their origin is still a mystery to scientists, but some answers may be revealed upon New Horizons’ arrival on July 14th.

“It’s a real puzzle – we don’t know what the spots are, and we can’t wait to find out,” Dr. Alan Stern of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) announced from Boulder, Colorado. He is also New Horizons’ principal investigator.

CHARON IS MYSTERIOUS, TOO

Another puzzle lies in wait in the form of finding out why and how Pluto differs so much from its dark and gray moon Charon. When two bodies form in space, they are generally composed of the same material, and so are expected to appear as such.

BACK TO PLUTO

Pluto’s color has been confirmed by these images. It is a brown planet, whose color is the result of “radiation chemistry acting on the methane and nitrogen ices there,” said Dr. Stern. But a stranger surprise is yet to come, for both the Lorri and Ralph Instrument are going to search for clouds.

CLOUDS ON PLUTO?

Science team postdoc Kelsi Singer of SwRI said “we’re looking for clouds in our images using a number of techniques…if we find clouds, their presence will allow us to track the speeds and directions of Pluto’s winds.”

Some artist renderings of what Pluto may look like from low orbit can really take one aback–thin, wispy systems of white contrails all but rotating across the brown and yellow landscape. If this surreal possibility turns out to be true, it could indicate that Pluto has a much more complex weather system than we’d originally thought.

NEW HORIZONS ITINERARY UPDATES

NASA gave the all clear for the spacecraft to continue its approach to the Plutonian system yesterday, after several weeks of scanning for dust clouds, rings, hidden moons or other interplanetary hazards posing an imminent threat to the probe. As a last ditch effort, the team even considered the possibility of using the large high gain antenna dish (used to communicate with us, on Earth) as a physical shield against debris. Space dust is lethal because, regardless of size, a particle travelling at 30,800 miles per hour (49,600km/h) would turn anything we’ve built into swiss cheese.

The New Horizons team engaged a 23 second thruster burn to increase the probe’s speed, but overall “we’re breathing a collective sigh of relief knowing that the way appears to be clear,” remarked Jim Green, director of NASA’s planetary science division. The New Horizons team was worried they’d have to adopt a Safe Haven by Other Trajectory (SHBOT), a decision they needed to have made by this week, but it turned out to be an unnecessary precaution.

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS

The New Horizons team partially expected to detect new moons or rings, but the lack of either was a “bit of a scientific surprise,” to Dr. Stern. “As a scientist I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t spot additional moons to study, but as a New Horizons team member I am much more relieved that we didn’t find something that could harm the spacecraft,” added John Spencer of SwRI, leader of the New Horizons hazard analysis team. The possibility of a faint ring does exist, but it would be extremely sparse and almost invisible to equipment.

The path is open and the stage is set for New Horizons to make history in the age of interplanetary exploration in twelve days’ time.

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New Faces and Mysterious Spots of Pluto Captured Thanks to New Horizons

Space cadets, save the date! July 14 is when New Horizons FINALLY reaches Pluto. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/30/save-the-date-july-14-nasas-new-horizons-spacecraft-to-fly-by-pluto-234/

On July 14, 2015, NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft will fly by Pluto after nearly a decade of travel. The space mission is expected to bring new findings about the mysterious dwarf planet’s atmosphere and its five moons.

July 14 New Horizons Spacecraft will visit former planet Pluto

Save the date, space enthusiasts as NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft flies by Pluto on July 14, 2015. The spacecraft will be making history after journeying 3.6 billion miles over the past 9 years. In January 2006, the spacecraft became the first launched in hopes of reaching the former planet. In two weeks, the dwarf planet will finally have a visitor as New Horizons hovers over 7,800 miles above Pluto’s icy surface around 7:49 a.m.

Though New Horizons will arrive on July 14, we won’t be privy to the first pictures of Pluto for a few days and it may even take months for all the data gathered to be compiled. However, what’s a couple of extra days when we’ve been waiting for nearly a decade for this moment?

The space mission will also reveal the first glimpses of Charon, one of Pluto’s moons. After flying by Pluto, the spacecraft will travel along to explore the Kuiper belt, the solar system that Pluto and other dwarf planets call home.

Remember When Pluto Was a Planet? New Horizons Does!

When New Horizons blasted off on 19 January 2006, it became the fastest space mission ever launched. The main target was to reach our farthest planet Pluto, which Clyde Tombaugh discovered in February 1930. However, only seven months after the spacecraft launched, its mission would be changed as Pluto was officially demoted from planet to dwarf planet.

The demotion came after heated debate in the astronomical community drew proposals regarding Pluto’s inclusion or exclusion as a planet. The proposals used the International Astronomical Union’s definition of a planet to rule out our beloved Pluto.

Though Pluto meets the first and second criterion of being a planet–it is a celestial body orbiting the Sun with a sufficient enough mass to assume a round shape–because of the third criterion, which specifies that the planet must clear the area around its orbit.

Alan Stern, leader of the New Horizons mission, was quoted as saying he was embarrassed that less than five percent of astronomers cast a vote in the debate. Regardless of the vote, Stern could take comfort in the fact that New Horizons had already launched and would not be called back.

What will the New Horizons Spacecraft Reveal about Pluto?

Scientists and researchers involved in the New Horizons mission aren’t completely positive about what the space probe will find on Pluto. However, plenty of possibilities are in orbit in the astronomical community as to what that spacecraft will reveal besides the icy terrain. Some theories include lakes of liquid neon, an equatorial mountain range, and massive cryogeysers.

With all the speculation, everyone is eagerly awaiting July 14 for whatever images and secrets the New Horizons mission may divulge about Pluto, which is still our favorite (dwarf) planet.

For more information on this exciting event in space exploration history, check out this bit from Exceed Internet:

Via: http://www.exceedinternet.org/pluto-new-horizons-satellite

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Save the Date: July 14 NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft to Fly By Pluto

As if space didn"t have enough mysteries, this mountain shows up. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/22/odd-mountain-on-ceres-adds-to-the-dwarf-planets-mysteries-125/

New photos from NASA show a huge mountain on Ceres—a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This is just the latest mystery to emerge on this fascinating and perplexing world.

A LONE MOUNTAIN

The photo showing the unusual mountain was taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft on June 6, 2015. This pyramid-shaped mountain on Ceres rises out of what appears to be relatively smooth terrain. According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), this mountain rises approximately three miles above the surface.

THOSE MYSTERIOUS SPOTS

Dawn also snapped closer photos of the bright mysterious spots on Ceres’ surface that have perplexed scientists. But the new photos don’t provide any new clues to help definitively identify them.

The strange illuminated area on Ceres was photographed by Dawn before the spacecraft entered orbit in March 2015, which is comprised of two bright spots within a basin on the surface. Speculation about the source of these odd lights began immediately after Dawn’s photos were published by NASA. Perplexed scientists suggested light reflections off ice or water vapor, or a volcano as possible explanations. And others presented the possibility that the illumination could be from an extraterrestrial civilization.

The mystery remains. And, until Dawn can get a better look, NASA actually launched a website inviting public suppositions regarding the bright spot on Ceres.

A CLOSER LOOK

The recent images of Ceres were taken by Dawn from 2,700 miles above the planet. The spacecraft is scheduled to maneuver down to 900 miles above the planet in August 2015. The closer approach will hopefully yield even better photos and give scientists a better idea about what is causing those weird bright spots.

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Solving space mysteries, huh? Can Musio, your newest A.I. friend do this?:

Odd Mountain on Ceres Adds to the Dwarf Planet"s Mysteries

"This is the first reconnaissance mission to explore the far away world of Pluto." - http://clapway.com/2015/06/22/nasa-spacecraft-records-first-color-video-of-pluto-charon-123/

 

An update on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft’s mission: Its successfully allowed NASA to capture the first color movies of the dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon.

PLUTO, NOW IN COLOR

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft snapped images of Pluto and Charon on nine occasions during a period from May 29-June 3 using its “Ralph” Multicolor Visible Imaging Camera. The blue, red, and near-infrared images were used to create the first movies of Pluto and its largest moon, and in near-true color.

The New Horizons team used the same set of images to create two videos—one showing a Pluto-centric view, and the other showing a barycentric view. As its name suggests, Pluto is centered in the Pluto-centric version, and Charon’s movements are shown in relation to Pluto’s position. The movements of both dwarf planet and its satellite are shown in the barycentric version, as they move around their shared center of gravity.

“It’s exciting to see Pluto and Charon in motion and in color,” says New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern. He continues, “Even at this low resolution, we can see that Pluto and Charon have different colors—Pluto is beige-orange, while Charon is grey. Exactly why they are so different is the subject of debate.”

A BINARY PLANET

Pluto’s discovery in 1930 makes it a relatively recent addition to our solar system. It was demoted from full planet status in 2006 when similar-sized objects were detected in the Kuiper Belt between Neptune and Pluto (Although Pluto is officially recognized as a dwarf planet, its status is debated, and some scientists still regard Pluto as an official planet).

Aside from its size, Pluto is special compared to other objects in our solar system because of its large moon Charon. According to NASA, planets in our solar system typically have a planet:moon mass ratio of 10,000:1. Pluto and Charon’s is 8:1, which puts the center-of-mass between the two objects outside the surface of these objects.

This special feature earns Pluto-Charon the title of binary planet. And this is the only recognized binary planet in our solar system.

EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN

The New Horizons spacecraft launched on January 19, 2006, and just began its study of Pluto in the summer of 2015.

This is the first reconnaissance mission to explore the far away world of Pluto. So New Horizons is providing scientists with valuable information about the dwarf planet that will hopefully shed light on the geology, atmosphere, and interior makeup of Pluto.

The spacecraft’s extended mission will explore other worlds in the Kuiper Belt. New Horizons is scheduled to make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015.

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Want more exciting space stuff? Go on a Space Scouts Summer Adventure with your kids, nieces/nephews or yourself:

 

NASA Spacecraft Records First Color Video of Pluto, Charon

Pluto dances the night away with her Moons. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/03/plutos-moons-and-their-dance-moves-234/

Earth’s Moon has a consistent pattern of waning and waxing, but has anyone thought about the moons of other planets–dwarf or otherwise? In a recent study, Pluto’s moons had their movements closely observed and really their movements could be described as dancing–if rhythmic movement were any indication of that.

There’s been a fortunate amount of coverage on Pluto’s moons lately. They consist of Charon (the largest), Styx, Nix, Hydra and Kerberos. In a recent study, observable was Pluto and her moon’s strange rhythmic movements incomparable to the movements of any comparable planetary objects. Nature reports on this study’s strange finds.

The Dance Shared By Pluto and Pluto’s Moons

The performance itself involves two parts. First, Pluto and Charon partner. Mark Showalter, the author of the study describes this as looking like they are “locked together in their own waltz as if they are a dumbbell” with a rod connecting them.” Meanwhile, the smaller of Pluto’s moons circle the pair, slowly move toward them, unsteadily, simultaneously being pushed and pulled by larger Pluto and Charon. The movements are described to be very precise. The five moons interacted when they were near each other as well, but in different ways.

Showalter and University of Maryland’s Doug Hamilton, discovered that the smaller of Pluto’s moons are linked together by gravitational resonance. This describes why they orbit Pluto and Charon in synchrony.

The Space Community Looks Forward to Learning More on Pluto’s System Very Soon

This is interesting because it’s our solar systems first known binary planet system–except neither Pluto or Charon are technically full-blown planets. The study’s implications give us an idea of what could be happening in other distant solar and star systems concerning the planets, and the stars and moons that revolve around them.

Not to be forgotten: NASA’S New Horizons spacecraft will finally be able to shed greater light on Pluto’s moons in Pluto’s tight-knit system this upcoming July after nine-years of travel! The spacecraft will have been traveling 3 billion miles. To put it in perspective, when first New Horizons took off, Pluto was still considered a planet.

For readers with young children, check out the Space Scouts Summer Adventure program here! It’s an educational adventure centered around space, technology, and science with unique weekly packages sure to inspire your burgeoning future astronauts. Click for more information.

Pluto"s Moons and Their Dance Moves

NASA Pluto Probe New Horizons Safely on Course for Epic Flyby - http://clapway.com/2015/05/29/nasa-pluto-probe-new-horizons-safely-on-course-for-epic-flyby-234/

The NASA space probe known as New Horizons is on a smooth, safe road to Pluto during the last few weeks of its long and much publicized journey. New Horizons’ onboard long-range camera has been working overtime to try to snap a pic of anything that may cause trouble for the probe.

First hazard search images reveal no new threats to the spacecraft.

Things like undiscovered moons, rings, or other unexpected features could prove lethal to the small craft, since the collision speeds would be extremely high. Yet, after a primary scan, there are no new or unexpected features to threaten New Horizons or the health of this mission. The scan did pick up all five of Pluto’s known moons. Styx, Kerberos, Hydra, Nix, and Charon could all easily be seen, and the camera is apparently even good enough to detect a body just half as luminous as the dimmest of them, Styx. Thus, the team reasoned that any possible undiscovered moons or rings would have to be very small. A moon would likely be smaller than 3 miles in diameter, and a ring would have to be very narrow or faint, perhaps under a thousand miles wide.

In case a hazard is detected, the team has two options.

If a dangerous object is detected, the New Horizons team can do two possible things (or both). The first would be to divert the path of the probe to one of three alternate routes. This would only work until around the Fourth of July, after which it’s be too late to change the path. The second would be to point the high-gain antenna the probe uses forward, in hopes that it would act like a shield. Yet, the team will hopefully never have to test these scenarios.

The Pluto mission is set to give us what is by far our closest look at the dwarf planet.

The New Horizons probe is part of a NASA mission that is tasked with giving researchers the first ever close-up shots of the “ex-planet.” Whatever awesome new things we can learn about the dwarf planet come at a cost of $700 million and years of work. The craft has been flying since the beginning of January 2006, and has covered an astonishing 3 billion miles. At the rate it’s currently traveling, it’s closing in on pluto at 750,000 miles per day.

NASA Pluto Probe New Horizons Safely on Course for Epic Flyby

New Pictures of Pluto Show Precise Features - http://clapway.com/2015/05/28/u-s-new-pictures-of-pluto-show-precise-features-123/

The mysterious tiny planet of Pluto is almost within the grasp of the NASA New Horizons spacecraft. The probe has already taken some amazing pictures of Pluto as it makes its travel there in less than 50 days, at which time it will provide even closer pictures of Pluto as it comes its closest to the planet.

Surface Details Already Amazing Scientists

New Horizons has already taken some images that were from about 77 million kilometers from the ninth planet in our solar system. It took the pictures of Pluto via the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). Scientists are already excited as these images show more precise detail about Pluto than ever before regarding this seemingly complicated world. The surface is already shown in pictures of Pluto to have a high contrast appearance. The New Horizon craft will travel all around Pluto, so scientists will have many more of these types of pictures of Pluto to examine and learn more about this tiny world.

Pictures of Pluto Show Its Faces, Surface Variations

As the New Horizon craft gets closer to Pluto, which rotates on its axis each 6.4 Earth days, it has been able to get pictures of Pluto that let scientists see how that high contrast surface appears during various stages of its cycle of travel around its axis. The craft will study these facts in better detail once it gets closer to Pluto in about six weeks from now.

Horizon uses a special image deconvolution technique to sharpen the raw and unprocessed pictures of Pluto and get them sent to Earth for study. These images reveal that Pluto has very distinct and complex geographical features and that it could have a polar cap that differs depending on longitude.

Pluto Images Show Polar Cap, Give Scientists More Info to Study

The astronomers studying Pluto will be able to learn more about the planet’s polar region after they receive more spectroscopic data in July when New Horizons gets its closest to Pluto on or about July 14. That means the pictures of Pluto get clearer and better as the New Horizons spacecraft brings it closer to this faraway dwarf world.

Mission astronomers working the Pluto mission had first seen all the evidence of the surface differences, as well as other exciting details in April when the New Horizons craft got within about 113 kilometers and started to take pictures of Pluto and send them to Earth for study.

New Pictures of Pluto Show Precise Features