APOD: Fly Over Pluto (2015 Jul 18)

APOD Robot · Post by **APOD Robot** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 4:11 am

Fly Over Pluto

Explanation: It took 9.5 years to get this close, but you can now take a virtual flight over Pluto in this animation of image data from the New Horizons spacecraft. The Plutonian terrain unfolding 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers) below is identified as Norgay Montes, followed by Sputnik Planum. The icy mountains, informally named for one of the first two Mount Everest climbers Tenzing Norgay, reach up to 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) above the surface. The frozen, young, craterless plains are informally named for the Earth's first artificial satellite. Sputnik Planum is north of Norgay Montes, within Pluto's expansive, bright, heart-shaped feature provisionally known as Tombaugh Regio for Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930.

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Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 5:16 am

How many frames were these animations based on?

Joules · Post by **Joules** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 11:33 am

Convection cells, with less dense material concentrated at the edges?
Is Sputnik mostly water or mostly CO?
Heat of fusion for CO is about a tenth that of water.

sandylee · Post by **sandylee** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:39 pm

In today's flyover, start at about 10 seconds and then watch the lower right hand corner - the formation that rolls off the screen at about 15 seconds - does that look like the Hawaiian Islands to anybody else?

Muchamazed · Post by **Muchamazed** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:59 pm

sandylee wrote:In today's flyover, start at about 10 seconds and then watch the lower right hand corner - the formation that rolls off the screen at about 15 seconds - does that look like the Hawaiian Islands to anybody else?

Not to me. But great stuff .. wow .. seeing Pluto up close. Lots of water obviously .. and said to have a heat source .. so probably life in the water.

hville · Post by **hville** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 3:27 pm

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?

Chris Peterson · Post by **Chris Peterson** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 3:40 pm

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?

If you honestly believe that the money for this mission would have actually gone to something like building a hospital, I've got some nice oceanfront property in Phoenix you might be interested in.

Also, where do you think that money went? Maybe put into a big sack on New Horizons and sent out of the Solar System? Most of it went to scientists to develop technology, to companies to develop and build components, to ordinary people in the form of salaries. And from that investment? Information relevant to Earth's geophysics, as well as loads of new technology, much in the public domain. And of course, a significant amount of NASA resources are directed towards Earth monitoring technology, something that our very existence may depend on.

I'd say NASA is extremely relevant. More so than many government agencies that operate with much, much higher budgets (and far less to show).

Dad is watching · Post by **Dad is watching** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 4:10 pm

At about the 1 minute mark of this video, it seems that we are flying over what appears to be a glacial feature with what appears to be flow channels and moulins (or glacier mills; holes in the ice) to drain whatever liquid may be on the surface of the glacier to lower levels. It also looks as tho there is free standing liquid in some of those channels as well. We see the same kind of thing here on Earth glaciers and ice caps. We don't think it can be water on Pluto, just too cold. But the similarities are striking. Given the temperatures, what could manifest these structures?

Qweenie · Post by **Qweenie** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 4:37 pm

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?

$750 million is really downright cheap for what we are getting here! The payoff in terms of technological advances is probably many times that, including technology that will find its way into your hospital and save lives. Maybe if the U.S. could extract itself from the ruinous expenses of fighting foreign before they bankrupt the country, there would be more money for hospitals, healthcare, schools and education, the things that always seem to get cut in bad times.

Boomer12k · Post by **Boomer12k** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:08 pm

Chris Peterson wrote:
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?
If you honestly believe that the money for this mission would have actually gone to something like building a hospital, I've got some nice oceanfront property in Phoenix you might be interested in.

Also, where do you think that money went? Maybe put into a big sack on New Horizons and sent out of the Solar System? Most of it went to scientists to develop technology, to companies to develop and build components, to ordinary people in the form of salaries. And from that investment? Information relevant to Earth's geophysics, as well as loads of new technology, much in the public domain. And of course, a significant amount of NASA resources are directed towards Earth monitoring technology, something that our very existence may depend on.

I'd say NASA is extremely relevant. More so than many government agencies that operate with much, much higher budgets (and far less to show).

Ummmm.....Not to mention that those people need Toilet Paper, and so that money DID IN FACT, filter back into the economy....thus it contributes to the whole.

:---[===] *

hville · Post by **hville** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:09 pm

I'm all for paying astronomer's and engineer's salaries, but I'd rather pay biotech scientists to develop cures for dread diseases. 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.

Chris Peterson · Post by **Chris Peterson** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:14 pm

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.

geckzilla · Post by **geckzilla** » Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:25 pm

Why do you want to take the money away from our Pluto probe? We're exploring and discovering new things we'd never otherwise see. Tell pro-sports teams that they don't need their fancy stadiums when we could be using that money for the public good instead of overpriced spectacles.

Boomer12k · Post 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.

:---[===] *

Boomer12k · Post 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...

:---[===] *

quigley · Post 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--

quigley · Post 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?

owlice · Post 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

hoohaw · Post 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.

Pianosorplanets · Post 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.

Pianosorplanets · Post 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...

BMAONE23 · Post 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/

Ann · Post 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

geckzilla · Post 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.

GiacomoFalcucci · Post 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

Starship Asterisk*

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