#Naming features of #Pluto"s #moon #Charon and why it"s major for #scifi #geeks. - http://clapway.com/2015/07/29/geeks-and-nerds-rejoice-features-of-plutos-moon-charon-to-be-named-after-sci-fi-heroes-345/

Features on Pluto’s moon Charon are about to be named after popular science fiction heroes, signaling the end of a long era of geeks and nerds being ridiculed and marginalized by society.

Geeks Going Mainstream

With science fiction television shows and movies like Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, and X-Men rising in popularity and becoming more and more accepted and loved by society at large over the past few years, it’s no wonder that the names that have been submitted for consideration in the naming of the features on Pluto’s moon, Charon, come from a handful of popular sci-fi universes.

If the names are approved, this would be a huge step forward, and truly a momentous occasion, for all geeks and nerds. Where once they were ridiculed by others for their love of Spock or of The Doctor, the fact that names from the fictional universes of the sci-fi heroes they love are being seriously considered for features of Pluto’s moon Charon is an indication that they might soon no longer have to worry about being marginalized.

Because such names are going to be entering into the mainstream, it means that they will be taught in the future to those who study the celestial bodies within our solar system. This should then instill a natural curiosity as to where those names came from, leading right back to the science fiction universes and the devoted fans who have lived in those universes for such a long time!

The Naming Process

As a result of NASA’s New Horizons space probe making it all the way to Pluto and sending back detailed photographs of Pluto’s moon Charon, a natural excitement built up over the most distant member of our solar system and the many new features discovered on the satellite’s surface. With the discovery of anything, of course, comes the issue of naming things. Because there weren’t any names to choose from, NASA decided to open up the naming process to the public.

The International Astronomical Union, which is in charge of approving the names of celestial bodies, said that the features on Pluto’s moon Charon should have names of fictional destinations, travelers, vessels, explorers, and milestones. In keeping with this theme, long-standing fans of certain science fiction universes were quick to submit names from their favorite sci-fi universes, and the fate of these names are now in the hands of the International Astronomical Union.

The Convergence of Universes on a Single Alien World

If approved by the International Astronomical Union, Pluto’s moon Charon would be home to a convergence of several science fiction universes. For instance, from the Doctor Who universe, one dark region on Charon has been named Gallifrey Macula, after The Doctor’s home world, and a long rift that intersects it has been named Tardis Chasma, after The Doctor’s spaceship and time machine.

In another nearby area, names have been taken from the Star Wars universe, with craters being named (Leia) Organa Crater, Skywalker Crater, and Vader Crater, with Vader Crater being noticeably darker than the other “Star Wars craters” (and rightfully so). On the other side of the Doctor Who universe portion of Pluto’s moon Charon lies the Star Trek universe portion, with a vast plain being named Vulcan Planum, and the craters contained within it being named Spock Crater, Sulu Crater, and Kirk Crater.

If these names for the features of Pluto’s moon Charon are approved by the IAU, it would herald a new age of mainstream acceptance of things that were once marginalized and ridiculed by society and heretofore considered to be solely the domain of geeks and nerds.

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Geeks and Nerds Rejoice! Features of Pluto"s Moon Charon to be Named After Sci-Fi Heroes

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 Images of Pluto Unveiled Today - http://clapway.com/2015/07/11/new-images-of-pluto-unveiled-today456/

The New Horizons Probe that everyone has been watching closes has finally sent back some images to NASA of the dwarf planet. The unveiling of the new images of Pluto today revealed some mysterious features on Pluto’s surface.

New Images of Pluto’s Surface

The New Horizons team is excited to finally see these close-up images of the dwarf planet. Curt Niebur, New Horizons program scientist, said in a public statement, “We’re close enough now that we’re just starting to see Pluto’s geology.” Just three days, ago we got a look at a new map of Pluto’s surface indicating light and dark areas. According to these new photos and information released Saturday, there seems to be a 1,000 mile band of rough terrain running horizontally on the surface, and as well as a dark surface in the shape of a whale’s tale in the southern hemisphere of the planet. The tale was also seen in the new map previously mentioned. These new images of Pluto have given scientists even more information on this ex-planet, and now we are all waiting in anticipation for what else there is to learn from this New Horizons mission.

Family of Planets

The probe was also able to get what the media are calling a “first family photo” of Pluto and it’s moon, Charon. Upon arrival at its destination, the New Horizons team is hoping to not only receive information on the dwarf planet, but it’s 5 moons as well. As it passes Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra, scientists are really hoping for some glimpses and data of each moon.

Update on New Horizons

The spacecraft is estimated to reach Pluto on Tuesday, being approximately 12,500 kilometers (just 7,767 miles) from the surface. The most difficult part of this expedition is said to be the sending of information gathered by the probe. Scientists expect it to take a little over a year for us to receive all the information that New Horizons is anticipated to gather this week. You can view the new images of Pluto on NASA’s website.

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New Images of Pluto Unveiled Today

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