Tag: Pluto
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At long last, mission to Neptune has decent chance of selection
It was 24 January 1986 when Voyager 2 flew by Uranus on its never-ending outbound journey from the solar system. Three and a half years later, on 25 August 1989, the probe flew past Neptune and became the only spacecraft to ever visit Uranus and Neptune. After those flybys, the ice giants passed from space…
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At long last, mission to Neptune has decent chance of selection
It was 24 January 1986 when Voyager 2 flew by Uranus on its never-ending outbound journey from the solar system. Three and a half years later, on 25 August 1989, the probe flew past Neptune and became the only spacecraft to ever visit Uranus and Neptune. After those flybys, the ice giants passed from space…
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New Horizons on track for historic New Year’s Day flyby of Ultima Thule
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft’s flyby of 2014 MU69, also known as Ultima Thule. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Steve Gribben Thirteen years outbound from Earth and a billion miles past Pluto, NASA’s New Horizons probe is healthy and on course for a…
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Planetary scientists suggest that Pluto was put together from a billion comets
These maps, assembled using data from the Ralph spectral imager on NASA’s New Horizons probe, shows the relative concentration of four chemicals on Pluto’s surface. Methane is shown in purple, nitrogen in yellow, carbon monoxide in green, and water ice in blue. (NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI Images) Did Pluto form like its closer-in brethren…
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Pluto’s champion recounts first mission to icy world – and gears up for the next one
The 1991 stamp that served as the rallying cry for the New Horizons mission to Pluto is “updated” by members of the New Horizons science team on July 14, 2015, the day the spacecraft flew past Pluto. Principal investigator Alan Stern is at far left. (Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA) It took nine years for…
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Year In Review 2017 (Part 4): One year to New Horizons’ flyby of MU69
As science teams and researchers spent 2017 pouring through the wealth of data returned by the New Horizons spacecraft during its historic flyby of the dwarf planet Pluto in July 2015, the spacecraft’s controllers spent the year busily preparing the craft for its anticipated flyby of Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 – a flyby event…
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New Horizons might get more flyby targets; Pluto features get official names
More than two years after New Horizons flew past Pluto, becoming the first human-made object to visit the dwarf planet, numerous surface features discovered and explored by the craft now have official names as recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Meanwhile, New Horizons itself is preparing for its 1 January 2019 encounter with 2014 MU69,…
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New Horizons might get more flyby targets; Pluto features get official names
More than two years after New Horizons flew past Pluto, becoming the first human-made object to visit the dwarf planet, numerous surface features discovered and explored by the craft now have official names as recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Meanwhile, New Horizons itself is preparing for its 1 January 2019 encounter with 2014 MU69,…
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Astronomers give their official blessing to the first batch of place names on Pluto
Pluto’s first official surface-feature names are marked on this map, compiled from images and data gathered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its flight through the Pluto system in 2015. (IAU Map) Some of the best-known places on Pluto, including the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio, have finally gone legit. But lots of other places, such as…
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Astronomers give their official blessing to the first batch of place names on Pluto
Pluto’s first official surface-feature names are marked on this map, compiled from images and data gathered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its flight through the Pluto system in 2015. (IAU Map) Some of the best-known places on Pluto, including the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio, have finally gone legit. But lots of other places, such as…