NASA Pluto Probe Begins Science Observations Ahead of Epic Flyby (Space.com)

[eppur_se_muova]

by Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | January 15, 2015 07:00am ET

A NASA spacecraft's epic Pluto encounter is officially underway.

NASA's New Horizons probe today (Jan. 15) began its six-month approach to Pluto, which will culminate with the first-ever close flyby of the dwarf planet on July 14.

"We really are on Pluto's doorstep," New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern said last month during a news conference at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco. [Photos from NASA's New Horizons Pluto Probe]

A long journey

The $700 million New Horizons mission blasted off in January 2006 with the aim of lifting the veil on Pluto. The dwarf planet has remained a mystery since its 1930 discovery because it's so small and so far away. (On average, Pluto orbits about 40 times farther from the sun than Earth does.)
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The closest-approach pictures will not all be available right away, however. As a result of budget constraints, New Horizons does not have an articulated high-gain antenna, meaning the spacecraft must orient itself toward Earth to beam data home.
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more: http://www.space.com/28270-new-horizons-pluto-science-observations.html




I guess we blew that money on melting buildings in Afghanistan instead.




ETA: video at http://www.space.com/26786-pluto-and-giant-moon-charon-imaged-by-probe-video.html

[jakeXT]

1. It's like a Playstation 1

The processor found in the New Horizon prob, the Mongoose-V processor, is an iteration of the same processor that was found in the now-antiquated PlayStation console. But this doesn't mean the processor is not suited for the tasks at hand, onboard the probe.

"The Mongoose-V processor analyzes positional information, distributes operating commands to multiple spacecraft subsystems, collects and processes instrument data, and sends bursts of data back to Earth," owner of MIPS Imagination Technologies, who worked with NASA in its development stages, Alexandru Voica says. "It also runs an advanced autonomy algorithm that allows the probe to auto-correct any issues or contact operators on Earth for help."

http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/2672/20150116/new-horizons-old-science-recycling-the-old-playstation-processor.htm

[Stryst]

2. Hey!

At least this time the high gain antenna actually opened. If New Horizons had the same problems as Galileo, at this distance we might not get anything back.

Have to admit though, I'm less excited by the Pluto flyby than I am by the chance of learning about the Kuiper Belt, and maybe proving/disproving the Oort cloud. And it's got the biggest plasma-sniffing spectrometer ever sent out into space, so maybe in a few more decades we'll send it out of the system, and it can sniff around the terminus shock.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I don't think it'll be able to show anything about the Oort cloud, will it?

Since it starts at about 5000 AU, according to theory, New Horizons will never get anywhere near it - that's more than 100 times further than it's got so far. Voyager 1 has only got to 130 AU so far.

[daleo]

4. July 14 is Bastille Day

I am hoping from some revolutionary resins from this probe.