New Horizons: Pre-launch, launch and main cruise, Pluto and the Kuiper belt |
New Horizons: Pre-launch, launch and main cruise, Pluto and the Kuiper belt |
Feb 8 2005, 02:09 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 133 Joined: 29-January 05 Member No.: 161 |
Yes it's happening after all these years, the mission to the last planet!
And maybe to celebrate the confirmation of budget, NASA approval preparations and the fueling of the RTG (radioisotope thermoelectric generator), there is an updated web site at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ Launch will be January 2006 with arrival at the Pluto Charon system July 2015 (mark your calender!) and then on through the Kuiper belt during 2016-2020 and beyond. 20.8-centimeter telescope for 100m resolution at closest approach IR/UV spectrometers 2 x 8GB data recorders data rate: 768 bps (sic) to 70m DSN 465kg including fuel $650m 336 days to launch -------------------- |
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Jul 28 2013, 12:50 PM
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#2
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 66 Joined: 3-August 12 Member No.: 6454 |
Stern said something about the far side of Pluto being lit by reflection from Charon - although the configuration doesn't look very favorable at close encounter....
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Jul 28 2013, 01:03 PM
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#3
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Member Group: Members Posts: 532 Joined: 19-February 05 Member No.: 173 |
Stern said something about the far side of Pluto being lit by reflection from Charon - although the configuration doesn't look very favorable at close encounter.... We're conducting the flyby when Charon is positioned to illuminate the so-called "far side" hemisphere, which is the terrain opposite the close approach hemisphere. This includes both night side terrains and some polar terrains now in winter darkness--i.e., terrains that do not see sun for decades. We will have to spatially bin these images heavily to get the SNR we need, so the spatial resolution will be crude. And there are issues of both SNR and scattered light that will make the data reduction very tough. But the end result--if this works--will be albedo maps of these terrains that allow us to look for diurnal and polar winter frost deposition and which may in reveal a few large scale features we would not otherwise see. |
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Jul 29 2013, 06:26 AM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 655 Joined: 22-January 06 Member No.: 655 |
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Aug 2 2013, 05:14 PM
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#5
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Per questions about the quality of dark side imagining in charonshine / plutoshine, remember the obvious (as I'm sure the team has): It depends on the cooperation of the bodies in question. If the polar regions are relatively homogeneous in albedo, there won't be anything to see. Pluto is known to be of exceptionally high regional albedo contrast, but if the polar regions have seasonal or temporary frost-out they might be pretty bland to the first (or second) order. The maps obtained with HST suggest this may be so even when the regions are in daylight. But that'll be valuable information even so. And we have the two cases to compare, the dark areas in seasonal, years-long shadow versus areas spending only half a rotation in shadow.
Saturnshine images of Iapetus illustrate this pretty well. The border of Iapetus's light/dark regions is easily distinguished in saturnshine, but within the bright or dark regions, little detail is visible. If that border weren't in the image, the image would show little. You can't expect what's possible for Pluto/Charon until you already have the answer that the observation hopes to obtain. |
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Aug 23 2013, 07:08 PM
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#6
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Member Group: Members Posts: 532 Joined: 19-February 05 Member No.: 173 |
FYI, my blog on recent New Horizons news, the Pluto System conference, a possible NH LEGO model, and a look ahead through mid-2014: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/overview/piPerspective.php |
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