New Horizons Spacecraft Completes Pluto Fly By
- Details
- Category: Earth, Air, Space Science
- Published on Tuesday, 14 July 2015 07:05
- Written by Janet Walker
The National Aeronautics and Space Agency, (NASA), in an historic mission, released the first ever photos of Pluto’s surface culminating the nine year effort to bring to the world images and collect data from the furthest planet in the solar system.
The unmanned New Horizons Spacecraft, a mini science laboratory, will utilize the most developed technological advancements to gather data, measure the planet’s temperature, take the vitals and record them back on earth.
In a galaxy far, far away, three billion miles from Earth, scientists are also gathering data on the nine moons circulating the planet with Charon, the most prominent of the nine moons within Pluto’s orbit.
Color images denoting the changes in planetary structure show climate changes, with ice caps the most pronounced.
The analogy of the moon orbits the earth (which is why we have a full moon once a month, and the earth orbits the sun. Pluto’s nine moons are stationary where Pluto orbits the moons, traveling through each of the moon’s boundaries.
Before any of the major news networks or services receive the first ever photos of the planet’s surface NASA will have introduced the images to its vast ecosystem of social media followers.
NASA, who hasn’t lost its coolness with age, debut the historic photos on the enormously popular social media site, Instagram, giving the Facebook owned platform a one hour window before the mass distribution of historic images.
Oddly, and contrasting belief and Hollywood portrayal, NASA’s Instagram page is intensely popular with as the middle aged exploration agency continues to draw in the dreamers, the stargazers and those who believe the agency’s best days are still ahead.
For nearly 70 years Pluto held the title of the Ninth Planet in the solar system, and the title remains intact in most announcements, teachings and classrooms, and for the serious astronomers, Pluto is now a dwarf planet as a ring or belt of new minor galaxies were discovered that contained many moons, large objects.
To the teams at NASA the vastness of space and the galaxies upon galaxies are broken down into grids with each grid and coordinates researched and studied to determine actions within the grid.
Star beds, where the formation of news stars are created within the gases of space, were discovered much in the same way.
Part of the historic New Horizon’s mission will be to photograph the nine moons and other objects within the Kuiper Belt.
The images of Pluto and beyond are stunning and can be viewed here: http://www.nasa.gov/
