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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. Sexy_Nerd79

    Sexy_Nerd79 Account Deleted

    This was so awesome. I can't believe all the new info we got just from this fly by. What else do you think we'll find in the kuiper belt?
     
    Sexy_Nerd79, Jul 20, 2015
    #61
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  2. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    Minerals ! Beyond our most extravagant needs and desires. ( And a lot of them are a lot closer than Pluto, too. )

    Did you know that towards the centre of Jupiter, it almost certainly rains diamonds !

    All of our future needs, including the limitless energy of nuclear fusion, are out there for us to go get.

    But what do we idiots do ? Point our missiles at each other !

    Jamie
     
    jamie jackson, Jul 21, 2015
    #62
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  3. Doomguy

    Doomguy Trusted Member

    Fortunately you don't have to be a "planet" to be interesting to space research folks. Take Titan for example. It is a moon of Saturn. Meh, you can say, a moon, what's interesting in that? Saturn has more than sixty (not counting ring particles). But:
    -it is larger than the planet Mercury (and Pluto too)
    -it has an atmosphere denser than ours, where you could literally fly if you had wings on your spacesuit
    -it has enormous dune fields and possibly ice volcanoes
    -there are clouds in its atmosphere and it sometimes rain methane
    -there are LAKES, RIVERS and even SEAS of liquid methane and similar stuff on the surface
    -it probably has a liquid water ocean deep beneath the icy outer shell.

    NASA has a concept of splash-down lander ("laker"?) mission to Titan that would float around one of the seas, carried by alien winds and sea currents...

    Interesting enough?
     
    Doomguy, Jul 21, 2015
    #63
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  4. Doomguy

    Doomguy Trusted Member

    It would be great if we could now steer New Horizons to other large objects of the Kuiper belt and beyond. There are dark, cold worlds out there with strange names such as Eris, Makemake or Orcus - still unknown, unexplored, waiting. If we saw them with spacecraft's eyes, we would know they are no less 'planets' than Pluto, Mercury or Mars. We've only completed scouting, got a first peek. Our exploration of the Solar System is far from over.
     
    Doomguy, Jul 21, 2015
    #64
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  5. Sexy_Nerd79

    Sexy_Nerd79 Account Deleted

    I can't wait until we find our Martian overlords! ;)
     
    Sexy_Nerd79, Jul 21, 2015
    #65
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  6. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    .
    New Horizons may have flown past Pluto, but the wonder of it all is far from over !

    Take a look at this !

    Parting Shot.jpg ​

    That photo could only have been taken from past Pluto, with our Sun in the background behind it ... the ring is Pluto's nitrogen atmosphere !

    Stunning ... and there will be much more knowledge and beauty to come.

    http://www.wired.com/2015/07/new-horizons-parting-shot-pluto-just-beginning/

    Jamie
     
    jamie jackson, Jul 24, 2015
    #66
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  7. annab2

    annab2 Trusted Member"It ain't pretty being easy!"


    Wowzers! That is one "Dark Beauty" I'm thoroughly amazed and impressed! :):):)
     
    annab2, Jul 25, 2015
    #67
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  8. Neophyte

    Neophyte Administrator Staff Member


    I believe in Smith's book the planet Pluto was colonized by aliens from another star system, because Pluto most closely resembled their home world. Jupiter and its moons had native inhabitants.
     
    Neophyte, Jul 25, 2015
    #68
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  9. Neophyte

    Neophyte Administrator Staff Member

    Actually an ion drive can have enough thrust to leave any gravity well in this system. Its a matter of enough electrical power. The more power you apply the greater the thrust. The current designs for an ion drive uses solar cells which at this time cannot provide the electrical power necessary to exert a significant thrust. Even a standard nuclear power unit may not be enough to give a decent thrust. Experiments with gaseous core reactors can provide a lot of energy but the last I heard they only last for about 12 hours and it was meant for a plasma drive. Probably when they develop fusion power, it can be used to power the ion drive. There are rumors of an energy converter that can convert the solar wind into electricity, it is similar to the system they wanted to use to convert fast neutrons directly into electrical power, but most likely it is only science fiction.
     
    Neophyte, Jul 25, 2015
    #69
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  10. Neophyte

    Neophyte Administrator Staff Member

    It is my opinion that Pluto should never have been down graded to dwarf planet. It was given planet status and it should keep that status, even if they changed the definition and it would no longer apply. Pluto as a planet should have been grandfathered in. Boo to the society for down grading Pluto. :mad:
     
    Neophyte, Jul 25, 2015
    #70
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  11. Antares

    Antares The Famous LTD Doggie

    How Pluto got its name​

    Pluto was discovered in 1930, by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona which was principally built just for the search for a 9th planet then known as Planet X which could account for variations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. By 1930, the founder of the Observatory, Percival Lowell, had died (1916) and since the observatory had the naming rights the planet was given the temporary designation PL for Percival Lowell. After various suggestions for a name, a vote was held among the staff to accept the name Pluto which has been suggested by an 11 yr old school girl from Oxford England Venetia Burney and thus combining the letters PL and the mythological god of the underworld, the planet becomes Pluto. The Walt Disney dog Pluto was named that same year in honor of the discovery, so in fact they are both really connected.
     
    Antares, Jul 25, 2015
    #71
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  12. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    .
    Holy crap !

    It has turned around, and is coming back !

    Coming Back.gif ​

    :) Jamie
     
    jamie jackson, Jul 25, 2015
    #72
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  13. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    jamie jackson, Jul 27, 2015
    #73
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  14. deviantdan

    deviantdan Account Deleted

    deviantdan, Jul 27, 2015
    #74
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  15. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    Great stuff !

    (The gif is way too big for here ... about 900k is the limit.)

    Jamie
     
    jamie jackson, Jul 27, 2015
    #75
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  16. jamie jackson

    jamie jackson Trusted Member

    .
    There are still more discoveries coming.

    Methane has been detected on Pluto, confirming a deduction made way back in the 1970's.

    And there are great new images, including some animations :


    Pluto Charon.gif ​

    This is a truly remarkable mission, for sure.


    Jamie
     
    jamie jackson, Jul 30, 2015
    #76
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  17. buddy59

    buddy59 Trusted Member

    There is so much new information coming out it is unreal! One of the great missions to the stars.
     
    buddy59, Jul 31, 2015
    #77
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  18. Sexy_Nerd79

    Sexy_Nerd79 Account Deleted

    Wow. I'm just amazed. You know, it's stuff like this that makes me feel small. :)
     
    Sexy_Nerd79, Aug 1, 2015
    #78
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  19. Neophyte

    Neophyte Administrator Staff Member

    15a18e9be71a48b46fe2e48e2c44bf77dba008c6.jpg

    Make room for the rest of the family. Distant cousins, so to speak.
     
    Neophyte, Aug 1, 2015
    #79
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  20. buddy59

    buddy59 Trusted Member

    I feel lucky to have seen a trip to the closest body in space ( Moon ) and the furthest body. I wonder what is next?
     
    buddy59, Aug 1, 2015
    #80
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