. 24/7 Space News .
The Ice Dwarf Cometh

Pluto and Charon

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Dec 23, 2005
Pluto is one of the most mysterious objects in our solar system. Ten thousand times fainter than the eye can see, and a hundred times smaller than Mars in the night sky, Pluto has never been investigated up-close by a spacecraft. The best image of Pluto, obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope, is just a crude grouping of bright and dark pixels.

"[Pluto] raises images of something very dark, far away, and cold," says Andy Dantzler, director of NASA's solar system division. "Actually, Pluto is a treasure trove of scientific discoveries just waiting to be uncovered. It's different from the inner rocky planets; it's different from the outer gaseous planets. And as such, it holds many clues as to how the solar system was formed, and also, perhaps, how other systems are formed."

After launch, the New Horizons spacecraft will speed away from Earth at 8 miles per second, reaching the moon in about 8 hours (the Apollo missions took several days to cover this same distance). In early 2007, a flyby of Jupiter will increase the spacecraft's speed by an additional 2.5 miles per second, and also provide an opportunity to test the spacecraft instruments. Depending on the launch date, the spacecraft could reach Pluto by mid-2015.

The spacecraft has seven science instruments -- three are cameras, while three others will measure solar wind, space dust, and energetic particles. A radio instrument will measure Pluto's surface temperatures and atmosphere.

"It's a scientific wonderland for atmospheric scientists," says New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "[Pluto's] atmosphere is escaping like a comet, but on a planetary scale. Its surface, which is only 40 degrees above absolute zero, is covered in exotic ices."

The spacecraft also has a CD-ROM inscribed with about half a million names of people who signed up on the Internet. A nuclear power supply will generate electricity during the long mission.

Pluto's moon Charon is large enough that some consider them to be a binary planetary system. Astronomers recently discovered two smaller moons orbiting more than twice as far away as Charon. The goal of the New Horizons mission is to map the sunlit portions of Pluto, Charon, and these newly discovered satellites.

Pluto is embedded in the Kuiper Belt, an enormous disc-shaped region of ice and dust that encircles our solar system. The half-million icy bodies that make up this belt are thought to be over 4 billion years old. Periodically an object gets kicked out of the belt and becomes a short-period comet.

After visiting Pluto, Charon, and the two newly discovered moons, an extended mission would allow the New Horizons spacecraft to encounter one or two of these Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). Because the Kuiper Belt is so vast, the closest KBO to Pluto is about 1 AU away, the same distance between the Earth and the Sun.

There has been much debate about whether Pluto is a planet or just a large KBO. To Stern, there is no question that Pluto is a planet. He also says there could be hundreds if not thousands of such "ice dwarf" planets in the Kuiper Belt, making them the most common type of planetary body in our solar system.

"Just as a Chihuahua is still a dog, these ice dwarfs are still planetary bodies," says Stern. "The Pluto-like objects are more typical in our solar system than the nearby planets we first knew. And the opportunity is to go now and have a chance to study this most common type of planetary body in the solar system for the first time."

The New Horizons launch window begins at 1:24 pm Eastern Standard Time on January 17, and lasts until February 14. If the spacecraft is unable to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida during this time, mission scientists will have to wait until February 2007 for a second opportunity.

Related Links
Pluto at APL
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


NASA Sets Sights On First Pluto Mission
Laurel MD (SPX) Dec 20, 2005
NASA is preparing to launch the first spacecraft to distant Pluto and its moon Charon. The January 2006 launch of New Horizons will complete the initial reconnaissance of the planets in the solar system.

---------------------------------------------------------
New from Telescopes.com!

It's new. And it's downright terrific!

Celestron's CPC Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope is the scope you've been waiting for! It offers new alignment technology, advanced engineering, and bold new design at a new, low price!

In fact, Celestron's Professional Computerized (CPC) scope with revolutionary SkyAlign Alignment Technology redefines everything that amateur astronomers are looking for. It offers quick and simple alignment, GPS technology, unsurpassed optical quality, ease of use, advanced ergonomics, enhanced computerization and, most important, affordability.

Want to view M-31 tonight? One button takes you there!

Shop for telescopes online at Telescopes.com! today!
------------------------------------------------------------







  • ZeroG Aerospace Launches Affordable Space Tourism for the Masses
  • Japan To Enter Space Race In A Fashion That Is
  • Virgin GlobalFlyer Record Attempt To Take Off From Shuttle Runway At Kennedy
  • NIAC Seeks Phase 1 Proposals To Advance Vision For Space Exploration

  • ASU Geologists Suggest Mars Features Are Result Of Meteorite Strikes Not Lakes
  • Mars Region Probably Less Watery In Past Than Thought Says Boulder Study
  • Veil Of Mystery Slowly Lifts From British Space Mission To Mars
  • Opportunity Completes Atmospheric Science Campaign At Erebus

  • ILS Atlas V Gets Go Ahead To Launch Defense Weather Satellite
  • Ariane-5 ECA Launches A Weather Satellite
  • Ariane 5 ECA Launches A Weather Satellite
  • India To Launch Its Heaviest Satellite From Kourou

  • Sahara's Edge Studied From Ground, Air And Space To Improve Water Management
  • A New Generation Of Russian EO Satellites In Orbit
  • New Era Of Low Cost EOs Dawns As First Topsat Images Received
  • Unprecedented View Of Upper Atmosphere Created By NASA Scientists

  • The Ice Dwarf Cometh
  • NASA Sets Sights On First Pluto Mission
  • Atlas 5 Launch Of Pluto Mission New Horizions Delayed Five Days
  • Mysterious Deep-Space Object Raises Questions On Origin Of Solar System

  • Partial Ingredients For DNA And Protein Found Around Star
  • Pulsar Racing Through Space Reveals A Comet Like Trail
  • Astronomers Link Old Stars And Mysterious Cosmic Explosions
  • Highest Energy Photons Ever Detected As Emanating From Milky Way Equator

  • Moon Storms
  • Chinese Lunar Land Sale A Great Idea But Illegal Says Government
  • Russian Technologies Can Put Cosmonauts On Moon
  • India Awaits Approval For Chandrayan Lunar Mission

  • First Modernized GPS Satellite Built By Lockheed Martin Declared Operational
  • Launch Of First Galileo Satellite Delayed
  • Inmarsat To Run Galileo GPS Network Operations Arm
  • GPS Systems Getting Smaller

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement