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New Horizons To Pluto

Discussion in 'Politics & Current Affairs' started by jamie jackson, Apr 16, 2015.

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  1. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    .
    On July the 14th, the New Horizons spacecraft will make its closest approach to Pluto. This will mark the conclusion of mankind's first round of exploration of the 'classical nine' planets.

    The beginning of this extraordinary mission happened with launch on January 19, 2006 ! And on Wednesday, it took the first ever colour picture of Pluto and its largest moon Charon.

    [​IMG]

    If all continues to go well, this will be a marvellous achievement, showing humanity at its very best.

    Official website : http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/

    Jamie
     
  2. whenindoubtwhipitout

    whenindoubtwhipitout Trusted.Member

  3. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    .
    Here is where New Horizons is, as of today, from 'overhead' :

    [​IMG]

    And from the 'side' :

    [​IMG]

    See how, in both diagrams, Pluto's orbit is oriented differently from the other planets ? That, and its small size, is why Pluto was renamed from being a 'planet' to being a 'dwarf planet'. But there are still some of us old sentimental fans (and Pluto itself) who are sad that Pluto isn't still with the rest of us :

    Poor Pluto.jpg

    Jamie
     
  4. Mek

    Mek Trusted.Member

    9 years is a long time just to get from here to there... We need to discover a faster and more ecconomical method of travel within our solar system if we ever hope to colonise beyond our own planet.
     
  5. TPPM

    TPPM Trusted Member

    Well, he's got a lot of other friends out their in the kuiper belt, some of whom are a lot closer than the planets.
     
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  6. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    .
    There is in fact a connection, between the name Pluto for the planet, and Pluto for the dog.


    The Pluto System.jpg ....
    .....
    Pluto the planet was named by an 11-year-old girl, Venetia Burney of Oxford, England.

    (Her great uncle, Henry Madan, Science Master of Eton, in 1877 suggested the name for the two dwarf moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos,)

    Venetia was well familiar with Greek and Roman mythology, and with the planets and their relative distances from the Sun. After thinking about it, Venetia supposedly stated, “I think Pluto would be a good name for it.” Pluto is the god of the underworld, who generally dwelt in a place that sunlight doesn’t reach - so it seemed like a fitting name for a dark, remote planet.

    Other names had been presented to the Astronomical Society, but many members loved that it not only was fitting from a mythological standpoint, but that Pluto also started with PL, which would be in subtle homage to astronomer Percival Lowell, who had predicted the existence of a 'Planet X'.

    Pluot the dog was named by Walt Disney, of course ... in 1931, but not until after Pluto the planet (discovered in 1930) was named.

    At first, the cartoon dog was just named 'Rover' but Disney preferred names with alliteration, like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. And at the time, the planet's discovery was in the news, so Walt Disney reportedly said, "I decided to take Nate’s [his assistant] advice and do something fun and creative. The planet Pluto had recently been discovered and I felt it was appropriate to name the pup in its honor.”

    So at first he was Pluto the Pup, and then just Pluto.

    Jamie
     
  7. Mookie89

    Mookie89 New Member

    There are some interesting new ion drives in development. Problem is power...no one wants to build a nuclear power unit large enough and risk sending it into the atmosphere...which is understandable lol
     
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  8. Mek

    Mek Trusted.Member

    Indeed Mookie... I had looked at some of the development notes for the Ion Drive. As I understand it, the Ion Drive engine its self is about the size of a football field, and may be somewhat difficult to get off the ground.

    I think what is holding us back is that we have not yet attempted to construct a ship in space... if we could construct a manufacturing facility in space, and just ship up the raw materials from the surface, we might get somewhere. But at the moment, everything is launched from the surface, which means the ship has to be designed to escape the atmousphere first, which doesn't leave much room for anything else. The development of 3D printing will be the game changer I hope, and allow us to start constructing ships in space.
     
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  9. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    .
    Mek, I could not agree more.

    The advantage of an ion drive is that it just keeps on thrusting ... but the disadvantage is that the thrust is low.

    So getting out of a gravity well is futile, but in space, and for long distance journeys, an ion drive is in its element.

    And I like your added thought of the 3D printing ...

    Jamie
     
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  10. Akbloke

    Akbloke Ex Pig-Fixer "Videmus Agamis"

    I had read a book about this very problem, years ago, called Tau Zero. It was all about overcomming the distance versus time versus speed factors. Also about how and where the space vehicle was constructed. Eventually all the problems were solved and I think (if memory serves me correctly) they were able to travel at a speed faster than light.

    Cheers
     
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  11. whenindoubtwhipitout

    whenindoubtwhipitout Trusted.Member

    Saw an article today that NASA, by accident had created a WARP field. Speed of light travel would be momentous. I can see where navigation would be lacking plus the idea of running into a grain of sand at 186,000 mph, but I guess the field that envelops the ship would protect it?
     
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  12. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

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  13. buddy59

    buddy59 Trusted Member

    It is a shame that the flight is not being celebrated more. If you were to ask 100 people 99 wouldn't know about it. It is one of the greatest feats of mankind.
     
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  14. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    Buddy, those are wise and welcome words.

    And for those of us who are space nerds, it is so frustrating that the mass media prefer their usual troubles-n-trash to something truly terrific.

    Thanks for that thought.

    Jamie
     
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  15. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    AK, I missed that bit the first time round. And without looking it up, I think that the novel you mention is by Poul Anderson, and I also read it a long time ago. A fine piece of writing ... loved it.

    I am a sci-fi (not fantasy, that's for kids) geek, and I liked his work ... as well as Larry Niven, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, and lots of others.

    Jamie
     
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  16. buddy59

    buddy59 Trusted Member

    When I was young I used the phrase I read in a Heinlein Book
    Mother Mercury
    Very Venus
    Elegantly Earth
    made Mars
    A Asteriods
    Jelly Jupiter
    Sandwich Saturn
    Under Uranus
    No Neptune
    Protest Pluto

    Now how it is obsolete I wonder if they would have sent a mission there if it was down graded
     
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  17. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member



    Further again to this, I came across a cute coincidence recently.

    Another novel by Poul Anderson, 'Earthman Go Home' was once paired in an 'Ace Double Novel' with a work by Wilson Tucker called 'To The Tombaugh Station', which concerned a voyage to Pluto. They were attached back-to-back.

    Tombaugh Station.jpg ... Earthman Go Home.jpg

    Jamie
     
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  18. buddy59

    buddy59 Trusted Member

    E.E. (Doc ) Smith actually had a civilization living on Pluto in his Lensman books.
     
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  19. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    .
    On April 30, another NASA spacecraft, MESSENGER, crashed onto the surface of Mercury, after 11 years of orbiting the planet.

    It sent this final Tweet :

    Messenger Tweet.jpg

    NASA has taken to setting up Twitter accounts for its space probes, as a way to communicate progress in a fun way.

    The Chinese space agency were the first to do this, for their lunar mission, the Yutu lunar rover. In January 2014, the Yutu published a series of tear-jerker posts on its Weibo account, after a malfunction threatened its life.

    Whoever was operating Yutu’s account even brought up the rover’s thoughts about how its 'mother' - the Chang’e 3 lander - would react to its death :

    " [Chang'e] doesn't know about my problems yet, " the Yutu Weibo account said. " If I can't be fixed, everyone please comfort her. "

    Here is an article about how we like to anthropomorphize our space-ships :

    http://motherboard.vice.com/read/why-we-love-to-anthropomorphize-spaceships?trk_source=homepage-lede

    Jamie
     
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  20. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

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    It is just over two months, before New Horizons arrives at Pluto.

    Here is a time lapse of Pluto's moon Charon orbiting it, made from pictures sent back by the spacecraft :

    Charon Orbiting Pluto.gif

    Jamie
     
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