New Horizons Pluto Flyby - Heute

[Astrofan80]

Hier ein kleiner Fahrplan:

7:30AM - Media Briefing: Arrival at Pluto, Inside the Pluto System & New Horizon's Perilous Path (LIVE on NASA TV)

7:49AM - Pluto closest approach at 12,500 KM (~7,750 MI) at approximately 14 KM/SEC (31,000MI/HR).

8:04AM - Charon closest approach at ~29,000 KM (18,000 MI) at same approximate Pluto flyby speed.

Note: During the half-hour when the spacecraft is the closest to Pluto & Charon, it will take close up pictures at both visible & near-infrared wavelengths. The best pictures of Pluto will depict features as small about 70 M (~230 FT) across - about the size of a football field. The spacecraft will also obtain stereo products that will be used to reconstruct Pluto's topography.

8:51AM - New Horizons flies through the shadow cast by Pluto & observe both the Earth & Sun setting, and then rising through Pluto's atmosphere. It will watch the light from the Sun & pick up radio waves from transmitters on Earth, making measurements that will reveal the composition, structure & thermal profile of Pluto's atmosphere in exquisite detail. The spacecraft will also obtain images of Pluto's night side, illuminated by Charon, which casts about as much light onto Pluto as a quarter Moon on Earth.

10:18AM - New Horizons flies through the shadow cast by Charon & make similar observations as when it passed by Pluto's shadow.

9:02PM - Mission team on Earth receives "phone home" signal from New Horizons to indicate the spacecraft survived the close encounter with the Pluto system.

8:30-9:15PM - NASA TV program: Phone Home, broadcast from APL Mission Control (LIVE on NASA TV)


und auf TWITTER: https://twitter.com/hashtag/PlutoFlyby?src=hash