New Horizons at Pluto

foophil said:
Some surface features are starting to come in nicely.
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Most unfortunately, according to the BBC
The US space agency's New Horizons probe was less than 2.5 million km from the diminutive world on Saturday and closing in fast. Come Tuesday, it will be grabbing shots from an altitude of just 12,500km. But the newly published image, showing Pluto's "spots", is of the hemisphere that will soon rotate out of view. It will not be seen again until after New Horizons has gone behind the 2,300km-wide dwarf, and then only in the faint light reflected off the little planet's biggest moon, Charon.
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Is this the result of an alien conspiracy to hide the true nature of the "spots"?
 
Corsair 115 said:
Between Dawn, Rosetta/Philae, and New Horizons, it's been a veritable feast of fun stuff this year for fans of astronomy. :)
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Not just astronomy. Other space missions have greatly aided observations of our one and only home. There were like 5'earth science missions that went up since last year.
 
Monketi Ghost said:
Truly.
This way-out-of-the-way little dwarf planet is clearly incredibly important somehow to ET.
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A convenient cold-storage depot on the edge of a gravity well? Makes sense to stockpile things were they are relatively easy to get to and leave from.
 
Grashtel said:
A) The RTG is quite sufficient for NH's needs and NASA had it, would you prefer that they just let it burn out on a shelf? RTGs have a limited shelflife, the isotopes don't stop decaying just because they aren't being used.

B) IIRC there are issues with getting the material to build new RTGs due to the shutdown of the reactor in the US that makes them.
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Dinwar said:
NASA recycles a lot of stuff. On one NASA site I work in there are a few areas where they store the non-dangerous stuff (metal components, decommissioned tanks, and the like), and occasionally you'll see folks go in and get stuff they need. No sense letting it go to waste.
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Ziggurat said:
Indeed, it's a major problem.
http://www.wired.com/2013/09/plutonium-238-problem/
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Wow, I was half kidding, but I see it's a serious problem. I'm glad they have a robust recycling program too. Working under a tight budget will do that to you though.
 
You also have to realize that "refurbished", in this context, isn't even remotely close to "refurbished" in a consumer context. Most consumers equate "refurbished" with "dodgy, used, formerly broken equipment fixed up to make a quick buck from the marks". In this context, the RTG could not have been "used" as it's pretty hard to get a used RTG from, say, the now defunct Galileo probe. It's more like "surplus"; the RTG was a spare, or for a cancelled project, and must be refreshed and polished as required for the new use.
 
grmcdorman said:
You also have to realize that "refurbished", in this context, isn't even remotely close to "refurbished" in a consumer context. Most consumers equate "refurbished" with "dodgy, used, formerly broken equipment fixed up to make a quick buck from the marks". In this context, the RTG could not have been "used" as it's pretty hard to get a used RTG from, say, the now defunct Galileo probe. It's more like "surplus"; the RTG was a spare, or for a cancelled project, and must be refreshed and polished as required for the new use.
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Yes, can't have it going out across the universe, representing humanity, all dingy now, can we. ;)
 
This is so freaking cool! I remember the excitement I felt at seeing the first close-up images from the Voyager images. This is giving me that same feeling again.
 
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