Starship Asterisk*

by **BMAONE23** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 3:49 am

geckzilla wrote:Have you seen the latest image? Craters are plentiful in the dark region of the new picture.
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa- ... or-july-24

This would be the area that has been dubbed "The Whale" at the area where the Whales Head meets the Heart
This area also reminds me of Iapetus

: Click to view full size image

by **BMAONE23** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 3:42 am

: Click to view full size image

This image of Enceladus shows a fairly well cratered region near the southern pole Tiger Striped region. On an icy body with a probable ocean below

by **geckzilla** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 3:16 am

I think a lot of details have been lost during compression. It seems especially bad where the craters are. Only the ones with high contrast light material seem to be outlined. It will be nice to look at the uncompressed imagery when it comes in to see if there are any low-contrast craters in there.

by **Chris Peterson** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:50 am

geckzilla wrote:Have you seen the latest image? Craters are plentiful in the dark region of the new picture.
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa- ... or-july-24

Yes, and even in some of the earlier pictures. But I wouldn't say "plentiful". Nevertheless, this supports the idea of resurfacing rather than a lack of impacts. It's just that the resurfacing process isn't uniform over the entire surface.

by **geckzilla** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:12 am

Have you seen the latest image? Craters are plentiful in the dark region of the new picture.
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa- ... or-july-24

by **Chris Peterson** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:06 am

Pianosorplanets wrote:I would bow to Chris' wisdom on this. I would ask him one quick thing, if he has a moment to reply. It may not be possible so far out and in such coldness but I wonder if the friction of impact could potentially cause any amount of temperature increase leading to liquefaction or, at least, a lessening of the hard nature of the ices that could be permit an impact area to developing a mare type of appearance? Or is it just too, plain cold out there for such things?

I'm sure that an impact produces melting, and even in the near vacuum some liquid will persist for a bit. But what I'd expect would be a fairly typical crater, with some evidence of that melt on the walls and bottom. But we don't see craters at all. So the options are that there hasn't been cratering (which seems unlikely), or the surface has been remodeled fairly recently.

by **Pianosorplanets** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 8:45 pm

I would bow to Chris' wisdom on this. I would ask him one quick thing, if he has a moment to reply. It may not be possible so far out and in such coldness but I wonder if the friction of impact could potentially cause any amount of temperature increase leading to liquefaction or, at least, a lessening of the hard nature of the ices that could be permit an impact area to developing a mare type of appearance? Or is it just too, plain cold out there for such things?

by **Chris Peterson** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 7:10 pm

madtom1999 wrote:Perhaps not a lake but I can imagine the shocked ice forming a slush that would take a while to solidify.

I doubt it. If the impact is in solid material, most of it will be ejected. Even if there's slush in the bottom, we're going to be left with a crater, not a plain.

by **madtom1999** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 3:42 pm

Perhaps not a lake but I can imagine the shocked ice forming a slush that would take a while to solidify.

by **Chris Peterson** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 1:20 pm

madtom1999 wrote:OK Tombaugh region has to be an impact crater on the left with ejecta moving out to the right up and down. I've a feeling this was some large slow moving object that made a splash but also a slump/wave of ice that formed the mountain ranges as well.
The polygonal patterns in the flat plain area are just convection cells from the cooling and freezing of the lake left after the impact.

An impact on solid ice or an ice/rock mixture doesn't leave a lake. That scenario is only plausible if the crust is very thin and there's a liquid sea underneath. Possible, but still not known.

by **madtom1999** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 6:58 am

OK Tombaugh region has to be an impact crater on the left with ejecta moving out to the right up and down. I've a feeling this was some large slow moving object that made a splash but also a slump/wave of ice that formed the mountain ranges as well.
The polygonal patterns in the flat plain area are just convection cells from the cooling and freezing of the lake left after the impact.

by **starsurfer** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:52 pm

I wonder what we could call all the surface features on Pluto?

by **BMAONE23** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:01 am

GiacomoFalcucci wrote:Dear All,

Good morning!
What stunning images!!

Who casts the shadows in Norgay region?
Is it the Sun or Charon?

Thanks and best

G

all the Light in the image comes from the sun and the shadows are cast by the mountains blocking that sunlight

by **GiacomoFalcucci** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 8:25 am

Dear All,

Good morning!
What stunning images!!

Who casts the shadows in Norgay region?
Is it the Sun or Charon?

Thanks and best

G

by **geckzilla** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 8:14 am

NASA doesn't have to provide any kind of interdisciplinary technological advances at all. All of that is just gravy. I find space exploration immensely valuable, personally. What good is it if those kids get their cancer cured if there's not something in this world for them? I bet many of them love Pluto, astronauts, and space exploration just as much as we do. You could attack any organization that seems to gobble up a ton of money for useless causes. Movies, sports, reality TV, soda... in the end, people live and work for this stuff. This has to be, hands down, the stupidest argument that repeatedly pops up anytime space exploration is involved. I don't want to live in a world where all we care about is curing cancer.

by **Ann** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 6:32 am

hville wrote:A tour de force that we have come to expect from NASA! But is it worth $750M? For that amount a hospital could be funded for an entire year. For instance, it costs St Jude Children's Hospital about $2M per day to provide free care. Is NASA even relevant to the needs of the USA anymore?

I, too, like the idea of giving St Jude Children's Hospital $2M per day so it could provide free care. But why would that money necessarily have to come from NASA?

Starship Asterisk* is not the right forum for an in-depth political discussion. But surely there are very many other organizations and corporations that do much less good with the ample resources they have, and that ought to give up some of its money for sick children.

Ann

by **BMAONE23** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:49 am

Boomer12k wrote:My first impression and observation is...Pluto is NOT an Astroidal Body...for being an Ort Cloud Object...it is NOT splattered with craters...my conclusion is....

WORLD.....

Ceres...is a Large Asteroid...bombarded and blasted, cratered in every part...

Mercury...the same...Mars is not so cratered, but still has plenty across the surface. Watching the video...two different regions...nary a crater...unless some are ice or snow covered. UNLESS, like The Moon, it was bombarded, and then volcanism made Mare to cover up a lot of the crater features.

There are SOME craters on Pluto...but not like other bodies...I make a distinction there. The Earth has some craters...but more worldly features... Earth is a World...not just a Planet...Pluto has "Worldly" features.

It has low plains, higher land, and highland mountainous regions. If the low lands were water, there would indeed be Islands. And to me....YES...that area reminds me of the Ha-V-aiian Islands....(too much South Park)...
It is as though...flowing water had made "SHORE LINES"...It would be very interesting to go back in time and watch how those clusters of mountains and highlands formed.

It will be nice to put the whole planet into a fly over terrain map some day...and see all the features as a whole.

Just my observation on this amazing voyage of discovery.

:---[===] *

Google earth already has a Pluto feature though I don't know if it has been updated with the latest images

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Multimedia/Google-Map/

by **Pianosorplanets** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 3:43 am

quigley wrote:This mission has gained amazing knowledge for mankind; for us, our children, and generations to come. Why don't we ask every adult in America to contribute $10 to building hospitals, curing diseases, etc., out of their movie, clothing, dining out, smart phone, music downloads, booze, dope smoking, sports, pet clothes and toys, new car every other year, cable/internet, cigarette, tattoo, hair stylist, budget and hundreds of other luxuries we indulge in as a country, and use that money rightly instead of selfishly. Really, $10 bucks a year, even $25. Can't we afford it?

Understanding our universe and where we live is not a waste of dollars. The views of Pluto are priceless--

My wife and I are by no means rich. Never-the-less we give away ten percent of what we bring in towards such worthy causes. Despite the huge sacrifice it makes us endure, we always have enough to eat.

I agree with you. $10 or $25 a week wouldn't kill 90% of Americans, let alone a year. Shutting up now to stay on topic...

by **Pianosorplanets** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 3:30 am

hville wrote:A tour de force that we have come to expect from NASA! But is it worth $750M? For that amount a hospital could be funded for an entire year. For instance, it costs St Jude Children's Hospital about $2M per day to provide free care. Is NASA even relevant to the needs of the USA anymore?

Please don't feel like we're ganging up on you because you are right about the great needs in this world and the money needed to drive entities like St. Jude's. But think of it this way? How much technology does St. Jude's have at their disposal that could very conceivably not yet have been invented if it hadn't been for the bazillion advances in technology NASA was forced to pioneer in order to accomplish their missions?

I used to be all focused on the wasted money at NASA and the needs that had to be met. My wife has taught me during our years together how to think more "down to earth" (no pun intended) and focus on the technology we really wouldn't have had it not been for NASA's need to perform the impossible over and over and over....

We all occasionally get miffed when money is spent by the "powers that be" in ways we feel aren't effective. As much as I love what the shuttle did for us, it never really (to me) arrived at the results its costs were intended to supply. Half a Billion or more per launch and a dozen lives or so seemed to high a cost. But even in that, I have to give NASA the benefit of the doubt. They are doing impossible work, attempting impossible goals and trying to make it happen with nonexistent (yet) technology.

Lastly: 750 million in today's economy is spittoon money as sad as it is to admit that.

by **hoohaw** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:33 pm

The brilliant missions to Mercury and to Pluto were both executed by the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University. Both projects started out as JPL projects, but went way over budget and APL saved them. Same for the astrophysical FUSE mission.

by **owlice** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 10:50 pm

hville wrote:But is it worth $750M?

YES

hville wrote:Is NASA even relevant to the needs of the USA anymore?

YES

by **quigley** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 9:14 pm

...and my question is what has shaped the mountains on Pluto to look so much like those on our home world? They look as if they have been sculpted by weather and atmosphere. Would gravity be what causes draws and valleys on these rugged peaks?

by **quigley** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 9:10 pm

This mission has gained amazing knowledge for mankind; for us, our children, and generations to come. Why don't we ask every adult in America to contribute $10 to building hospitals, curing diseases, etc., out of their movie, clothing, dining out, smart phone, music downloads, booze, dope smoking, sports, pet clothes and toys, new car every other year, cable/internet, cigarette, tattoo, hair stylist, budget and hundreds of other luxuries we indulge in as a country, and use that money rightly instead of selfishly. Really, $10 bucks a year, even $25. Can't we afford it?

Understanding our universe and where we live is not a waste of dollars. The views of Pluto are priceless--

by **Boomer12k** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:57 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:
hville wrote:I'm all for paying astronomer's and engineer's salaries, but I'd rather pay biotech scientists to develop cures for dread diseases.
So you think that everybody who is interested in science should have to go into the biomedical area? And again, you haven't explained where this radical shift in the nature of our society is going to come from, that results in a radically different approach to allocating public resources.

If anyone from NASA knows someone on the Pluto team I'd appreciate it if that person could tell us in this forum what 'loads of new technology' were developed by the program that are relevant.
Every one of these probes requires the development of new sensors, new imagers, new electronics. In many cases, it is spending on projects like this that creates the fundamental technology that migrates into consumer devices. It's hard to look at any one mission, because there is a lot of technology sharing between projects.

And....who knows...how much of this missions technologies will filter into Biotechnologies....
I think his "argument" is more an Ideological Evaluation,...than Scientific...and you are not going to convince that attitude of anything....though it can be hard to convince a scientist of things also...
I guess there is no er...um....well...."Scientific Equality" for the equal distribution of moneys, and their "SOCIAL" Priorities,....maybe we need a Social Science Ministry for that...."Welcome to the Ministry of Social Science, how can I give you excellent service today? You have a project to go where???? IS IT GREEN??????"

Actually such a system would FAIL....because any ADDING TO THE PROGRAM and "equalization of finances" reduces the finances available for pre-existing programs....including BIOTECHNOLOGIES!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is why they get what funding they can...
PERSONALLY...I would liked to have had MORE MONEY on this project..and do a Cassini like mission....STAY and be able to maneuver in the Pluto system...

:---[===] *

by **Boomer12k** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:38 pm

My first impression and observation is...Pluto is NOT an Astroidal Body...for being an Ort Cloud Object...it is NOT splattered with craters...my conclusion is....

WORLD.....

Ceres...is a Large Asteroid...bombarded and blasted, cratered in every part...

Mercury...the same...Mars is not so cratered, but still has plenty across the surface. Watching the video...two different regions...nary a crater...unless some are ice or snow covered. UNLESS, like The Moon, it was bombarded, and then volcanism made Mare to cover up a lot of the crater features.

There are SOME craters on Pluto...but not like other bodies...I make a distinction there. The Earth has some craters...but more worldly features... Earth is a World...not just a Planet...Pluto has "Worldly" features.

It has low plains, higher land, and highland mountainous regions. If the low lands were water, there would indeed be Islands. And to me....YES...that area reminds me of the Ha-V-aiian Islands....(too much South Park)...
It is as though...flowing water had made "SHORE LINES"...It would be very interesting to go back in time and watch how those clusters of mountains and highlands formed.

It will be nice to put the whole planet into a fly over terrain map some day...and see all the features as a whole.

Just my observation on this amazing voyage of discovery.

:---[===] *

Starship Asterisk*

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