Michael

I would think quite a wide beam would probably be about a million miles in diameter when it hits the area near earth. However that would be less than a 0.1 degree beam.

GarryP

Think it's wider than that, about a degree IIRC (if I had the frequency and dish size I could probably work it out). Which would make it about 80 million miles wide at Earth - enough that aim need only be "aim at the sun, then move a bit left or right as needed (the earth's orbit is only 93 million miles).

Some of the high resolution mosaic stuff came in overnight. Including :



As I said, the surface looked very young, and this shows no impact craters at all. That means despite being -230C, its an active surface, which means its getting heated at least to some degree. And those triangular mountains are going to be causing some scratched heads. They are very different to the orange peel mountains nearby, and very regular in makeup and slope.

Michael

The spacecraft uses a giant dish antenna to communicate with NASA’s Deep Space Network. It’s no trivial effort, though; the beam is only 0.3-degrees wide and has to hit Earth from Pluto and, eventually, beyond.

We Reach Pluto Tomorrow! 10 Fast Facts About 'New Horizons' | Mental Floss

Swerv-o

Where is it heading after this? Will there be an opportunity to examine any of the extrasolar bodies out there?


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Michael

I don't know.

knockoff nige

If the opportunity arose and you were a likely candidate, would you accept the solo mission of flying beyond the solar system with enough supplies to last you 20 years but knowing you'd not be coming back?

It's not a definite no for me. Not meant in a depressing way but an exciting one. If I could record data and send it back to earth, that would surely be making a difference. Obviously there is the scary side to it which would ultimately have me back out.

Swerv-o

I probably would if there was a final destination - like a planet to colonise or something. Not sure if I would be so keen if it were just head off in a straight line and keep going. Seems a pretty grim way to live out the last 20 years of your life...


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Michael

There are already people willing to die on Mars.

A Mars One Finalist: Why I’m Volunteering to Die on Mars

Swerv-o

Yeah, that i can understand - it's just dying in a spaceship hurtling into the unknown having spent the last 2 years on a spaceship hurtling into the unknown.

It's time we started working on wormhole technology or something


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knockoff nige

Fair call. But accepting a solo mission knowing you'll never see another human again is quite a massive commitment. What would you insist on bringing with you?

Swerv-o

A lot of seriously cheerful music. And probably not Alien...


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Beoz

Vasoline

Michael

We have to figure out how to get someone back from Mars (an extremely complex task) before we spend vast amounts of money investigating a theory that nobody understands.

BEVS

Mmmm. Perhaps . I would maybe have considered such a thing when I was a lot younger. It's the idea of going where no person has gone before. Seeing what no-one else would see although I suppose the reality could be an awful lot of boredom.

Swerv-o

I was having an amusing moment



If you're interested in this concept, there is a movie called Astronaut: The Last Push which deals with exactly this scenario. Have a watch of that and then see if it still seems as attractive...

I'd consider signing up if it were a planet though. Provided there were no Ewoks.


S