Diane's Blog - Space Exploration

Planet Gimli

nospam@example.com (Diane C.) — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 15:53:08 -0700

NASA is not happy. No it's not a budget cut. It's that Pluto is not a planet anymore. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided to vote Pluto out of the planet club because of its highly elliptical orbit that overlaps with Neptune.

It isn't all about size. (Like everyone thought)

The New Horizons mission to Pluto isn't the first voyage to the last planet anymore. It may not even be the first voyage to a dwarf planet. Ceres may be upgraded to dwarf planet, and if NASA's Dawn mission launches next summer, it will arrive at Ceres five months before New Horizons gets to Pluto.

From NASA: New Horizons Continuing on to Pluto, Planet or Not

Third Time is a Charm

nospam@example.com (Diane C.) — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 13:12:06 -0800

The New Horizons mission to Pluto blasted off for the last planet of the solar system at 14:00EST on a picture perfect day at Cape Canaveral.
The launch of the nine-year journey had two delays, one related to bad weather and one to a power-outage at the control center in Maryland. However today was the day that the hard work paid off.
Now comes the long wait for the pictures!

Cape too Windy

nospam@example.com (Diane C.) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:13:12 -0800

The scheduled launch of the New Horizons mission to Pluto was scrubbed this afternoon due to excessive ground winds.

The launch has been rescheduled for tomorrow at 13:16 EST.

Are We There Yet?

nospam@example.com (Diane C.) — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 17:24:57 -0800

On January 17th, NASA ticks off Pluto-Charon, the last planet on
its to-visit list. The New Horizons spacecraft will be launched
Tuesday from Cape Canaveral about 13:30 EST.

New Horizons will explore Pluto-Charon and the Kuiper Belt.
The spacecraft will cruise by Jupiter around February 2007 and
reach Pluto by July 2015. Please visit the JHAPL site for webcam
shots and a countdown calendar. The project took seventeen years
of planning, cajoling for money and building.

The exploration of Pluto is a joint effort of many public and
private organizations.

The team leaders are Southwest Research Institue and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. (website sponsor).
Government and private agencies include NASA, JPL, Ball Aerospace, Boeing, Kinetx, and Lockheed-Martin.

And some help and instrumentation from the students and faculty at Stanford and the University of Colorado.

"A toast to Stanford"...with good California Pinot Noir of course!