We made it!

[HVAC Tech]

We've finally reached Pluto and the spacecraft is sending data back to earth as we speak. It took 9 years to travel 3 billion miles at speeds in excess of 31,000 miles per hour.
Pretty impressive!

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Well about 7,500 miles away. I thought close only counted in horseshoes and hand grenades?

 

[HVAC Tech]

Sorry, just quoting the BBC's article:

"It's three billion miles away (4.7bn km) and has never been seen in detail but now Pluto, at the very edge of the solar system, is on the brink of being revealed in a new light".

Both distances are still impressive. But, if you are traveling at 30,000 miles per hour it wouldn't take to long to travel 7,500 miles unless I'm missing something.

 

[HVAC Tech]

Unless you are referring to the 31,000 mph. I looked at the article again and I should have said "in excess of 30,000 mph", my bad.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

The article I read said pass within 7500 miles of Pluto.

Voyager is/was the real feat.

 

[alec_t]

Did you spot this meme (from Twit) on the BBC site?

 

[Willen]

It's the fact which is out of my thinking capacity, actually out of my imagine capacity. Pluto is approx 5 billion kilometers far than us! l Radio signal needs 4.6 hours to go there and another 4.6 hours to get return back! If a member from NASA station clicks a camera button of New Horizons, the spacecraft will take a photo after 4.6 hours and send back after another 4.6 hours (9.2 hours total)! Oh god, how they are steering their rocket in time?!

What type of radio transmission they are using to send and receive from 5 billion kilometers!!

Did the rocket use its fuel all the way of 5 billion KMs?? I heard that in zero gravity, if we kicked an object then it goes away all the day all the night all the years (till the time when it gets another force). Amazing world!

 

[JoeJester]

Maybe pluto will regain it's planet status.

The debate will and probably has started.

 

[HVAC Tech]

I read somewhere that we have discovered many dwarf sized planets besides Pluto in the Kuiper Belt. The king of the dwarfs being Pluto. The Kuiper belt is a disc-shaped region of icy objects beyond the orbit of Neptune -- billions of kilometers from our sun. Pluto and Eris are the best known of these icy worlds. There may be hundreds more of these ice dwarfs out there.

Does it classify as a planet if it has its own moon or moons?

I think I am going to go learn me some astrology today. GOOGLE

 

[alec_t]

I think I am going to go learn me some astrology today. GOOGLE

Taking up fortune-telling, HVAC ?

 

[JoeJester]

They need to rethink the definitions of planets and dwarf planets. Earth and Neptune are candidates for dwarf planet status as they too, haven't cleared their neighborhood.

"Third rock from the sun" is appropriate.

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5283956.stm

 

[Willen]

I am glad that NASA named to the recently found icy mountain as 'The Norgay Montes', respecting to Tenjing Norgay Sherpa. I am glad because the 'Norgay' was Nepalese Sherpa, One of the first Mt. Everest (the talllest mountain around the world) climber in 1935.
-http://space.io9.com/sour-over-plutos-heart-at-77-000-kilometers-in-this-new-1718583571
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzing_Norgay

 

[HVAC Tech]

The scientists are saying that Pluto may contain vast amounts of water, frozen, ofcourse. Ok, let's call it ice, lol. That is a must to sustain life on it but with it being 3 billion miles from earth and the fact that it takes 9 years to get there not to mention it takes 248 years to achieve one full rotation around the sun, how is this useful to us.
I suppose once we master a rocket engine that runs on ice, Pluto could be used as a place to refuel. I know the likelihood of this ever happening is nil, but if I told you that we were gonna put a man on the moon in the 1800's you would say I was nuts and that it was impossible.

 

[Willen]

So I am wishing that if I could survive 200 years, I could see Mars landing, Jupiter landing even in Pluto landing with human spacecraft! I hope I can see the magic of nano technology within my remaining life.

 

[HVAC Tech]

Nano tech is already here:

https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_shaw_one_very_dry_demo?language=en

Well this is one example anyway.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

So I am wishing that if I could survive 200 years, I could see Mars landing, Jupiter landing even in Pluto landing with human spacecraft!

Considering how VERY, VERY slow space exploration has gone (pretty well backwards since the 60's), I'm pretty doubtful that those goals will be reached in 200 years

And considering the gravity on Jupiter, manned landings are highly unlikely

What's needed is a quantum leap forward in space technology - mainly in escaping earth's gravity well - with 'cheap' reusable spacecraft making it financially viable. Once you can get men and equipment cheaply in orbit, then lot's of things become plausible.

The space shuttle was a nice idea idea, but essentially a flop - it wasn't cheap, and it was barely reusable

 

[alec_t]

I could see Mars landing, Jupiter landing even in Pluto landing with human spacecraft!

From what I've seen of the pics of those destinations in the holiday brochures, I think I'll stick with a week in a Mediterranean coast resort .

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

Pluto is not like Earth in many ways. The Craft can not get too close because it is possible that the planet or one of it's moons (if it has more than one) can spew up debris, and going that fast the craft could be totally destroyed if it hit even a tiny fragment.

Astrology? <chuckle>

The Craft is given advanced commands, but it must also have some autonomous ability so that it can avoid crashing, similar to the Mars crafts.

 

[ronv]