New Horizons Pluto System Final Approach, 28 Jun-13 Jul 15 |
New Horizons Pluto System Final Approach, 28 Jun-13 Jul 15 |
Jun 28 2015, 08:08 AM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8783 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
More than nine years in flight, many more years before that in the making--this is the time. Please post all comments related to New Horizon's passage through the Pluto system here.
What to expect Reminder that despite the rather brief duration of the actual encounter, it will be literally months before all acquired data is returned so this thread will be active for an equivalent time. Intrepid TPS space journalist and UMSF admin Emily Lakdawalla has written an excellent guide to planned imagery activities. EDIT: Updated version of guide. Emily has also produced a simulation of the kinds of images that are anticipated. FAQs Most Forum members are advanced spaceflight enthusiasts; many are in fact professionals in space-related disciplines. Accordingly, there are no plans to post answers to questions that can be easily answered via a Google search, and we ask that everyone please attempt to do so before posting a question. EDIT (4 Jul 15): Admin Astro0 has produced an extensive New Horizons FAQ thread. EDIT: Review rule 1.9 and keep it firmly in mind before posting. Posts violating that rule will be deleted without notice. ____ With all that said, the most important thing by far is to witness the marvel of discovery, of exploration, of New Horizons on worlds never before seen. This is the best seat in the house for doing so, right in the comfort of our own homes. As with previous major events in planetary exploration over the past decade it is likely that not only professionals but also the press may be watching the Forum during the coming days due to its hard-earned reputation as a place for noise-free commentary and stunning contributions by amateur image processors, so please bear this in mind... ...and I can't stop smiling with anticipation and excitement. What marvelous things we will soon see. Enjoy the ride!!! -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Jun 30 2015, 05:33 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 423 Joined: 13-November 14 From: Norway Member No.: 7310 |
Excerpt from a blog post on the potential for liquids on Pluto:
QUOTE After Jeff Moore's talk, Jeff Kargel stood up and suggested that liquid nitrogen or neon could potentially flow across Pluto's surface, at least at some times of its year. Then Will Grundy pointed out that nitrogen ice is "a fantastic insulator," so even if liquid nitrogen doesn't flow on the surface, it's quite conceivable that it could be flowing not very far down below the surface. If it's not very far down, it wouldn't take much for some other process to excavate those deposits and make them visible from space. Alan Stern pointed out that impacts on Pluto would happen at 1-2 kilometers per second and would be expected to "locally fluidize" the nitrogen ice. Then Bill McKinnon said that if the impact is big enough, it could briefly increase Pluto's atmospheric pressure and you could have an episode of global nitrogen rain.(!)
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