New Horizons mission

[Fr8monkey]

On Sunday, New Horizons will be 1 year from it's pass by Pluto. I have been watching this since launch. Pluto is my favorite planet... Dwarf or not!

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/

[Aethon]

Sweet, monkey. I've been watching and can't wait either. Glad to see another user of NASA.gov

[Everten P.]

PPPPLLLLUUUUUUUUTTTTOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Is a planet even if it is a dwarf (but why isn't mercury?)

[Mr Shifty]

PPPPLLLLUUUUUUUUTTTTOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Is a planet even if it is a dwarf (but why isn't mercury?)

Unlike Pluto, there are no other large objects in Mercury's orbit. It has "cleared" its orbit of significant other bodies. Pluto, as a Kuiper Belt object, has many other (thousands discovered so far) bodies along its orbital path. Ceres (the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system) is also dwarf because it's part of the asteroid belt. Also, Mercury is significantly bigger than Pluto.

[ScallopPotato]

New Horizons will be passing the orbital plane of Neptune on the day I move into University. Naturally, I'm excited.

[lajoswinkler]

Really, still butthurt of Pluto?

I'm looking forward to the day when first photos start coming online. I was too young to appreciate Voyager 2 in 1989, so this will be my second (Cassini-Huygens was the first) true experience of new space stuff.

[peadar1987]

As far as I'm concerned, dwarf planets are still planets, just a subset thereof. The main motivation for this is that it means that I can sound really smart when I ask people to name the planets of the solar system, they say 8 or 9, and then I can rattle off Ceres, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Sedna, Orcus and Quaoar!

This is why I have nae pals!

[th3shameless]

i was 10 when it launched, its really amazing to think about. so much has changed between now and then yet new horizons still treads foward on the same parabolic arc

[ItchyBrother]

and in just over a month, it will cross the orbit of Neptune... another great site is http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/

[-Velocity-]

Still no secondary Kuiper belt target for it?

[Urban_K]

Still no secondary Kuiper belt target for it?

No, they're still just testing to see if Hubble can find one.

[Mr Shifty]

No, they're still just testing to see if Hubble can find one.

Actually they're done with this. Hubble found 2 during their discretionary time in June that couldn't have been found from ground-based telescopes. Now they're going to spend 120 orbits during July and August to hunt for one that can be reached by NH, which they're pretty confident they'll find.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2014/35/full/

[Mitchz95]

I can't decide if I'm more excited over New Horizons visiting Pluto or Dawn visiting Vesta. Both are fascinating targets.

[Aethon]

Don't forget my favorite little probe that could... Rosetta. After already visiting 2 other comets.

http://www.space.com/26491-rosetta-spacecraft-comet-photo.html

Edited July 13, 2014 by Aethon

[Mr Shifty]

I can't decide if I'm more excited over New Horizons visiting Pluto or Dawn visiting Vesta. Both are fascinating targets.

Dawn visited Vesta in 2011. It'll be orbiting Ceres come March of next year. (Interesting that the New Horizons JPL site claims it'll be the first probe to fly-by a dwarf planet. Technically true, I guess, since Dawn will not be flying by Ceres, but actually orbiting it.

[lajoswinkler]

I can't wait for Ceres, either. It shoots out water vapor and has a lingering "atmosphere" around it. The surface is icy and contains reddish organic matter. Incredible dwarf planet, just look at it.

2015 will be awesome for space exploration.