Why is the NH spaceship covered of gold laminate?

I have many speculations but not sure which is the real ones?

Rodolfo

I suggested Romulus and Remus for the DS2 microprobes - Doug

Does that mean that if New Horizons is not able to liftoff between January 11-13, it has to wait two more days before another launch attempt can be made?

Sorry, I'm a little slow there... Just making sure

If you or someone could create a current skymap of where our first four interstellar probes are, that would be wonderful.  Especially one that is continually updated.  And perhaps even as seen from different perspectives in space.

I believed it myself, but Doug McCuistion told COMPLEX flatly that NASA is determined not to let MSL be delayed to 2011, because it's the current centerpiece of their Mars strategy.  (He actually used the term "sacred cow".)  For that reason, they're willing to pump more funds into it to allow it to stay on track for 2009.  So, while it may yet get bumped in 2011, this definitely isn't "almost certain".

The thermal/electrical simulator has no radioactive material. It doesn't match the
mass properties at all.

Good question, here's the scoop:

That's the mass model that simulates the mass and moments of inertia of the RTG.
It doesn't look as much like the real deal as the black thermal/electrical simulator
does, but it is what you want to have on for spin balance.

-Alan Stern

as the picture captions says, the RTG is a dummy, I think used for weight/balance testing.


Mauro

I don't know for sure, but I think the view from Jetty Park of LC41 would be pretty bad.  LC41 is way north, very close to LC39.  I would think any good site for a Shuttle launch would be better for LC41.  It's not like a Delta launch, where the view from Jetty Park is probably as good as from the VIP site.

We watched the MRO launch from the causeway site and it was OK.

Thanks to all!

The Boeing strike should have no effect on NH processing (and certainly not Atlas processing). Like I said, there was no damage to the booster itself, only some ground equipment.

Hmmm. I'm guessing SlashDot is wrong here. The SlashDot article has one sentence saying it will return, but I've never before heard that it isn't on an escape trajectory. The NH website doesn't even say what the flyby velocity of Pluto is, so there's no way to tell from that site. I've seen other places saying 11 km/sec for the flyby, but I don't know if this takes into account that Pluto is already travelling a few km/sec outbound as this mission is arriving well past preihelion for Pluto. The outbound velocity might be 13-16 km/sec.

I would imagine that NH would not end up returning to 1AU, since after the encounter with Jupiter, it will have a perihelion closer to five AU.

If the galaxy were not filled with gravitational knots (other stars), you might expect the Voyagers and Pioneers to return in 225 million years.

To the contrary, the Boeing strike could effect processing of our Boeing third stage.
We are actively working with KSC, Atlas, and Beoing, to mitigate possible effects,
but there is no guarantee.

-Alan