GarryP

This guy promises to update this WebGl view of Pluto with data as it comes in : Pluto Globe (you will need an up to date browser)

I'm sure others will be doing the complete Pluto system.

Swerv-o

We spent over a trillion dollars on war in the middle east, which doesn't really seem to have achieved a great deal. I often wonder how our space program would look if we had invested it there instead


S

GarryP

I blame millions vs billions vs trillions.

We hear the 'illions and are incapable of successfully comparing them, particularly over time.

New Horizons cost ~$700 million over 15 years.
Budget of CSIRO is ~$1.2 billion
The budget of NASA is ~$19 billion
The amount of unaccounted for money in Iraq/Afghanistan is ~$14 billion
Australian cost of helping out Dubya in Iraq ~$2.5 billion
Cost of US involvement in Iraq/Afghanistan ~$6 trillion

Thus you could have 8571 x New Horizons missions for the cost of Dubya trying to strut his stuff around the middle east.

Swerv-o

We could have colonised Mars for that money


S

GarryP

We could have buried every two-bit politician, head first, in the martian soil for quite a lot less. It would still have been a bargain.

BEVS

I know. I think it is ace and I am a bit excited about this. Can't wait for the pics to start coming in.

Swerv-o

Wasted money aside, it is very exciting, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the images.

If anybody is interested, BBC Knowledge have a show called Stargazing with Dara O'Briain and Brian Cox. An hours worth of all manner of space exploration news, and in a fairly digestible format.


S

Alfresco

Should be cool to see.

GarryP

New image. They seem to be coming in at a rate of one per day.

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/fi...apl-swri_0.png

carolinephillips

Is the fact that it it appears to be constructed out of hexagons due to the processing, or has Pluto been made by alien bees?

GarryP

At this point, probably processing related. Once the encounter is over they will send back stored data in slow time which will be able to improve things somewhat. However most of the close encounter stage will be on the other side of the planet, so this hemisphere might remain 'fuzzy'.

moneypenny20

Strangely, that's what I was expecting when I first saw the title.

GarryP

Thought this might be of interest, the plan of what images arrive when. Basically, to date, we've been getting long range images at 4+ million kms out. Today things switch over the encounter imaging, first of failsafe scientific data (not images), then a few images pre-encounter but only 1m km out (in case it gets smashed).

Then the actual encounter, where the probe will be snapping pics like a japanese tourist and not talking to anyone.

Then after phoning home on the 15th, it starts pushing out a few sub 1m km images of each object, followed by real close images of Pluto's & Charon's surfaces and some science data.

From Friday it will return a few sexy pics, close up, as a kind of sampler.

It will then go quiet for the following 2 months, before it starts downloading the rest of the images (first equivalent of JPGs, then the RAWs).

So the next week, till Tuesday next will be the main images seen during the actual encounter timeperiod. That's all unless they have changed their minds at all after losing contact for a few days.

AEST is 10 hours in advance of UT.

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Sunday, July 12 19:39 UT : 7.5hr downlink: Final optical navigation images

• 3 LORRIs of Pluto at 13 km/pix (~185 pixels across disk)
• 2 LORRIs of Charon at 13 km/pix (~92 pixels across disk)

Monday, July 13 02:23 UT : 4.2hr downlink: Fail Safe A

• LEISA and Alice data (no LORRI or MVIC images)

Monday, July 13 06:14 UT : 2.5hr downlink: Fail Safe B

• LEISA data (no LORRI or MVIC images)

Monday, July 13 at 10:39 UT : 1.4hr downlink: Fail Safe C

• LEISA data (no LORRI or MVIC images)

Monday, July 13 at 16:24 UT : 3.5hr downlink: Fail Safe D

• LORRI Charon at 7.2 km/pix (~170 pixels across disk). Taken 2015-07-13 06:36:57. Range 1.461 million km.
• MVIC Pluto and Charon color at 28 km/pix (~86 and ~43 pixels across disk). Taken 2015-07-13 07:37:55. Range 1.406 & 1.418 million km. ­- Can be used to colorize LORRI Charon image in same downlink; less good for colorizing later Pluto image because of 12.5-hour time difference, during which Pluto will rotate about 30 degrees
• This downlink also includes Alice, LEISA, PEPSSI, and SWAP data.

Tuesday, July 14 at 03:15 UT : 0.9hr downlink: E-Health 1

• LORRI Pluto at 3.8 kilometers per pixel (~630 pixels across disk). Taken 2015-07-13 20:17:28. Range 768,000 km. - The best single-frame photo of Pluto that will be available during encounter period

Wednesday, July 15 at 01:09 UT : 0.3hr downlink: Phone home

• No science data, just a brief burst of telemetry confirming that the spacecraft survived the flyby. The mission team on Earth should receive the signal at 01:02 UT / 21:02 ET / 18:02 PT.

Wednesday, July 15 at 10:59 UT : First Look A

• LORRI Charon at 2.3 km/pix (~520 pixels across disk). Taken 2015-07-14 02:41:49. Range 466,000 km. - The best single-frame photo of Charon that will be available during encounter period
• LORRI Pluto at 3.9 km/pix (~615 pixels across disk). Taken 2015-07-13 20:02:43. Range 778,000 km. - Will make a stereo view with the one downlinked in E-Health 1
• LORRI Hydra at 3.2 km/pix (~10x18 pixels across disk). Taken 2015-07-13 23:16:11. Range 645,000 km.

Wednesday, July 15 at 19:25 UT : 6.9hr downlink: First Look B

• LORRI Nix at 3.0 km/pix (~9x19 pixels across disk). Taken 2015-07-13 23:19:16. Range 590,000 km. - The best photo of Nix that will be available during encounter period; LORRI's best will be 10 times higher-resolution
• 3 frames on Pluto from high-resolution LORRI mosaic at 0.4 km/pix (Pluto will fill all 3 frames, each frame ~410 km wide). Taken 2015-07-14 10:10:15. Range 77,000 km. - The highest-resolution images of Pluto that will be available during encounter period
• Alice, LEISA, REX, and SWAP data

Thursday, July 16 at 04:23 UT : 1.9hr downlink: First Look C

• PEPSSI data (no LORRI or MVIC images)

Thursday, July 16 at 07:23 UT : 1.9hr downlink: First Look D

• 3 frames on Charon from high-resolution LORRI mosaic at 0.38 km/pix (Charon will fill frame, each frame ~390 km wide). Taken 2015-07-14 10:23:47. Range 79,000 km. - The highest-resolution images of Charon that will be available during encounter period
• PEPSSI and SWAP data

Thursday, July 16 at 13:22 UT : 4.3hr downlink: First Look E

• MVIC Pluto and Charon color at 5.0 km/pix (~480 and ~240 pixels across disks). Taken 2015-07-14 06:49:08. Range 254,000 and 269,000 km. - Color portrait of Pluto & Charon in same image
• SWAP data

Friday, July 17 at 16:32 UT : 3.3hr downlink: High Priority A

• LORRI Hydra at 1.2 km/pix (~48x28 pixels across disk). Taken 2015-07-14 07:39:28. Range 231,000 km. - The best-resolution well-lit photo of Hydra in the data set (there will be a higher-resolution one taken of a crescent Hydra)
• 1 frame on Pluto from 2x2 LORRI mosaic at 2.2 km/pix. Taken 2015-07-14 02:49:47. Range 444,000 km. - Will show Pluto filling a corner of image
• Alice data

Saturday, July 18 at 10:29 UT : 4.6hr downlink: High Priority B

• LORRI Pluto at 1.8 km/pix (Pluto will fill frame). Taken 2015-07-14 19:06:24. Range 360,000 km. - A departure crescent shot of Pluto
• MVIC Nix color at 3.1 km/pix (~18x8 pixels across disk). Taken 2015-07-14 08:02:39. Range 165,000 km. - The best color image of Nix that will be available during encounter period; may be used for stereo with image returned in First Look B
• LEISA data

For the rest of Saturday and Sunday, downlinks include REX and LEISA data, with no LORRI or MVIC data.

Monday, July 20 at 16:20 UT : 3.3hr downlink: High Priority G

• 4 frames on Pluto from high-resolution LORRI mosaic at 0.4 km/pix (Pluto will fill all 4 frames, each frame ~410 km wide). Taken 2015-07-14 10:10:15. Range 77,000 km. - Adds to high-resolution mosaic that began downlinking Wednesday in First Look B

Following that, no images will be returned until September 14, at which point we will gradually get the entire image data set. first lossy, then lossless, over the course of a year.

Buzzy--Bee

So where is it boldly going after Pluto?

BB

Alfresco

Yep.