After you have scanned the area since mid-May with a powerful telescopic camera to detect dust clouds, planetary rings and other potential obstacles, the New Horizons team concluded that the ship could remain on the deemed optimum trajectory for the planned observations.
“A grain of sand can be catastrophic for the probe”
New Horizons continues therefore avancert to 49,600 km / h to the mysterious planet and its five moons, whereas at this speed, according to officials of the mission, “even a large debris like a grain of sand can be catastrophic for the probe.” “We all breathed a sigh of relief that the coast was clear” , cowardly Jim Green, the head of planetary science at NASA. “Especially since we can collect more data (images and other measures, Ed) keeping the original path” .
On July 2, New Horizons was less 15 million kilometers of Pluto and spend closer to 12 500 km on 14 July. She will have traveled five billion kilometers since the start of his journey. The last images transmitted on July 2, which are in color and are becoming clearer by the day, show two very different sides of the distant planet.
“This is a real conundrum”
On the one seen along the equator a series of dark spots of 480 km in diameter each, with an area equivalent to the state of Missouri and who are evenly spaced. Such spots have never been observed, raising the greatest interest in the New Horizons science team, especially because of the remarkable regularity of their spacing and size. “This is a real enigma … and we look forward to approach to find” , said Alan Stern for which this exploration of Pluto “aura of scientific benefits from unrivaled missions Traveling in the 1980 “.
After Pluto, the New Horizons spacecraft, which takes on board infrared spectrometers images and ultraviolet, two cameras including a high-resolution telescope and two powerful particle spectrometers, will continue its journey to be closer to other objects in the Kuiper Belt, a vast pile of debris beyond the orbit of Neptune.
Pluto, discovered in 1930, has an atmosphere made up of nitrogen, seasons complex system of distinct geological characteristics and is composed primarily of rock and ice. The dwarf planet revolves around the sun in 247.7 years. With a diameter of 2300 kilometers it is smaller than our moon and a mass 500 times lower than that of the Earth. Pluto could have an ocean of water under the thick layer of ice, as its moon Charon, where an atmosphere could also exist.
No comments:
Post a Comment