Tuesday evening update
20:20
Here is how AFP described the yet-unseen flyby of Pluto
This photo obtained July 14, 2015 from NASA shows a new New Horizons' look at Pluto's on July 11, 2015revealing intriguing geologic details that are of keen interest to mission scientists. The next photos will be much, much clearer. AFP PHOTO/NASA/HANDOUT
An unmanned NASA spacecraft whizzed by Pluto on Tuesday, making its closestapproach in the climax of a decade-long journey to explore the dwarf planet for the first time, the US space agency said.
Moving faster than any spacecraft ever built – at a speed of about 49,570 kph – the flyby happened at 1149 GMT (18:49 Bangkok time), with the probe running on auto-pilot. It was to pass by Pluto at a distance of 7,767 miles (12,500 kilometers).
"The New Horizons spacecraft passes its closest approach mark at Pluto after a three-billion-mile journey," a NASAcommentator said as spectators waved flags in a crowded room at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Center outside the US capital, Washington.
"I have to pinch myself. Look what we accomplished," mission operations manager Alice Bowman said.
"It is truly amazing that humankind can go out and explore these worlds and to see Pluto be revealed just before our eyes. It is just fantastic."
Moving faster than any spacecraft ever built – at a speed of about 49,570 kph – the flyby happened at 1149 GMT (18:49 Bangkok time), with the probe running on auto-pilot. It was to pass by Pluto at a distance of 7,767 miles (12,500 kilometers).
"The New Horizons spacecraft passes its closest approach mark at Pluto after a three-billion-mile journey," a NASAcommentator said as spectators waved flags in a crowded room at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Center outside the US capital, Washington.
"I have to pinch myself. Look what we accomplished," mission operations manager Alice Bowman said.
"It is truly amazing that humankind can go out and explore these worlds and to see Pluto be revealed just before our eyes. It is just fantastic."
18:53
At this very moment Nasa's New Horizon's spacecraft should be at it closest point to the surface of Pluto. It is taken photos, but, because of the great distance, it will take at least five hours for scientists to see the first ones and about eight hours beyond that before they announce/show anything to us.
Tuesday morning update
Spacecraft flies by Pluto this evening
NASA's New Horizon's spacecraft is only hours away from its close encounter with thesurface of Pluto.
The latest photos of the mysterious dwarf planet were taken from 2.5 million kilometres aways, but by 18:49 our time tonight it will come within about 12,500 kilometers (the latest estimate) of the Pluto's surface.
The latest photos of the mysterious dwarf planet were taken from 2.5 million kilometres aways, but by 18:49 our time tonight it will come within about 12,500 kilometers (the latest estimate) of the Pluto's surface.
It is not something we will watch live, however. Signals from the spacecraft take at least five hours to reach scientists here on earth and photos won't be released for some time after that. But by tomorrow morning, we should have a much clearer picture of what Pluto is like.
If the spacecraft stays in one piece, that is. The big worry now is that it may collidewith some space debris, a possibility principal investigator Alan Stern puts at 10,000 to one.
I'll have much more later today.
If the spacecraft stays in one piece, that is. The big worry now is that it may collidewith some space debris, a possibility principal investigator Alan Stern puts at 10,000 to one.
I'll have much more later today.
Monday's story
When I went to school, Pluto was known as the ninth planet in our solar system. No one had any idea what it looked like. Although it has since been demoted to a "dwarf"planet, actually seeing it close-up is going to be an exciting event for both old and young.
NASA craft discovers heart shape on Pluto as flyby nears
Miami, July 12, 2015, AFP – There's a near-perfect heart shape on Pluto's rusty redsurface. The dwarf planet is dotted with bright points which may be ice caps, and amysterious dark shape nicknamed "The Whale."
Scientists are seeing all this for the first time as a piano-sized NASA spacecraft, called New Horizons, hurtles toward the distant celestial body on its way toward a historicflyby on July 14.
"It's easy to imagine you're seeing familiar shapes in this bizarre collection of light and dark features, said John Spencer of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "However, it's too early to know what these features really are."
Scientists are seeing all this for the first time as a piano-sized NASA spacecraft, called New Horizons, hurtles toward the distant celestial body on its way toward a historicflyby on July 14.
"It's easy to imagine you're seeing familiar shapes in this bizarre collection of light and dark features, said John Spencer of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "However, it's too early to know what these features really are."
But scientists expect those mysteries to be solved in coming days as the spacecraftcloses in on Pluto, once considered the farthest planet in the solar system before it was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.
That same year, the New Horizons mission launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on a journey of nearly 10 years and three billion miles, becoming the first spacecraft toexplore this far-away frontier.
"We are coming up on the culmination of all this effort, all this planning," said Joe Peterson, a science operations leader for the New Horizons mission.
The closest flyby is scheduled for July 14 at 11:50 GMT (18:50 Thai time) when New Horizons passes within 9,977 kilometers of Pluto.
Moving at a speed of 49,570 kilometers per hour, it is the fastest spacecraft everlaunched.
The $700 million unmanned spacecraft has seven sophisticated science instrumentsand cameras that are collecting data daily and sending it back to Earth.
"The instruments on New Horizons were all designed to work together to give us acomprehensive picture of the Pluto system," said Cathy Olkin, deputy project scientist for New Horizons.
They include three optical instruments, two plasma instruments, a dust sensor and a radio science receiver. Together they will help scientists study Pluto's geology, surfacecomposition, temperature and atmosphere – as well as its five moons.
Blurry, pixellated colour images began arriving in April and May, when the spacecraftwas about 80 million kilometers away from its destination.
That same year, the New Horizons mission launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on a journey of nearly 10 years and three billion miles, becoming the first spacecraft toexplore this far-away frontier.
"We are coming up on the culmination of all this effort, all this planning," said Joe Peterson, a science operations leader for the New Horizons mission.
The closest flyby is scheduled for July 14 at 11:50 GMT (18:50 Thai time) when New Horizons passes within 9,977 kilometers of Pluto.
Moving at a speed of 49,570 kilometers per hour, it is the fastest spacecraft everlaunched.
The $700 million unmanned spacecraft has seven sophisticated science instrumentsand cameras that are collecting data daily and sending it back to Earth.
"The instruments on New Horizons were all designed to work together to give us acomprehensive picture of the Pluto system," said Cathy Olkin, deputy project scientist for New Horizons.
They include three optical instruments, two plasma instruments, a dust sensor and a radio science receiver. Together they will help scientists study Pluto's geology, surfacecomposition, temperature and atmosphere – as well as its five moons.
Blurry, pixellated colour images began arriving in April and May, when the spacecraftwas about 80 million kilometers away from its destination.
After a brief system failure caused the spacecraft to go into safe mode on July 4, the best image yet was taken on July 7 when New Horizons was just under eight million kilometers from Pluto.
The image shows a light-colored heart shape some 2,000 kilometers across, and a darker, whale-like shadow at its side.
"I love this one," said Olkin, indicating that the shape could be due to ice.
"We know that there are ices on Pluto, and we expect those ices to be brighter."
More data in the coming days should reveal more clues about the composition of Pluto's surface, as well as its Texas-sized moon, Charon.
"The next time we see this part of Pluto at closest approach, a portion of this regionwill be imaged at about 500 times better resolution," said Jeff Moore, geology,geophysics and imaging Team Leader of NASA's Ames Research Center.
The best views are expected Monday through Thursday said principal investigatorAlan Stern. Even after the spacecraft whizzes by, the data and pictures will keep coming in for another 16 months, Stern told National Public Radio's Science Friday.
"This is the gift that keeps on giving," he said.
The image shows a light-colored heart shape some 2,000 kilometers across, and a darker, whale-like shadow at its side.
"I love this one," said Olkin, indicating that the shape could be due to ice.
"We know that there are ices on Pluto, and we expect those ices to be brighter."
More data in the coming days should reveal more clues about the composition of Pluto's surface, as well as its Texas-sized moon, Charon.
"The next time we see this part of Pluto at closest approach, a portion of this regionwill be imaged at about 500 times better resolution," said Jeff Moore, geology,geophysics and imaging Team Leader of NASA's Ames Research Center.
The best views are expected Monday through Thursday said principal investigatorAlan Stern. Even after the spacecraft whizzes by, the data and pictures will keep coming in for another 16 months, Stern told National Public Radio's Science Friday.
"This is the gift that keeps on giving," he said.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น