Congratulations, New Horizons!

[beaglesandbass]

Got kinda emotional watching this with 62,000 other people online. After traveling for 9.5 years, over 3 billion miles, speeds of over 30,000 mph.... a craft built by mankind passed within 7,800 miles (less than the Earth's diameter) of Pluto at 7:49am EST. Such an accomplishment. I can't wait to see the pictures and read everything it's learning about the dwarf planet and its moons.

 

[nashvillebill]

Hear, hear. This is science at its cutting edge, using technology unheard of a few decades ago. I too can't wait to see the high-resolution photos.

(Yet some people still denigrate scientists, even as they reap the benefits of our technology. Sad.)

 

[mrpackerguy]

Visited Lowell earlier this year. My parental unit bought a t-shirt at the Lowell store "Pluto demands a recount". Cool stuff. The spacecraft speed amounts to roughly 9mi/second

 

[tastybasslines]

I heard the main engineer in an interview. He said, "I have no predictions about what we will see on Pluto, but I expect to see something extrordinary."

 

[David Jayne]

Watching 'Mission Pluto' now. Fascinating stuff. They only just properly plotted Pluto's orbit very recently. Nail-biting stuff for the mission controllers. My congratulations to them, amazing stuff.

 

[Muddslide]

(Yet some people still denigrate scientists, even as they reap the benefits of our technology. Sad.)

That's just because scientists hate the baby Jesus.

 

[Boom762]

Well will see an ice sculpture that spells out "We are TOO a Planet!"

 

[David Jayne]

I just learned the ashes of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh are onboard. That's kinda cool. A fitting gesture.

 

[BazzTard]

just saw the first pic. yes awesome acheivment.

And people still think the moon landing was a hoax lol

 

[beaglesandbass]

I just learned the ashes of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh are onboard. That's kinda cool. A fitting gesture.

I didn't know that. That's awesome.

 

[metron]

Unbelievable stuff! The hurdles this team dealt with over the last 10 years is mind boggling. And they are local cats which is really cool!

 

[two fingers]

That's just because scientists hate the baby Jesus.

I was wondering how long it would take before we got an asinine remark (either political or religious).

Didn't take long at all.

 

[David Jayne]

Just a few days ago they lost all contact with it for several hours. First time in the whole mission. They think it went into safe mode but don't know why. They repeatedly sent a reboot command and it finally came back online. That must have been a few hours of sheer hell.

 

[Muddslide]

I was wondering how long it would take before we got an asinine remark (either political or religious).

Didn't take long at all.

Always glad to be of assistance.

Seriously though, I marvel at things like this as well.

I was just speaking to the point that most people who denigrate science tend to be hardcore political and religious wackadoos.

And no, I do not believe all religious people are wackadoos.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Just a few days ago they lost all contact with it for several hours. First time in the whole mission. They think it went into safe mode but don't know why. They repeatedly bsent a reboot command and it finally came back online. That must have been a few hours of sheer hell.

It would have been fitting if millions of dollars and years of planning were taken out by the blue screen of death.

 

[metron]

Close ups are being released!

 

[hbarcat]

Just a few days ago they lost all contact with it for several hours. First time in the whole mission. They think it went into safe mode but don't know why. They repeatedly sent a reboot command and it finally came back online. That must have been a few hours of sheer hell.

I heard they had to finally try
CTRL/ALT/DEL

 

[hbarcat]

Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.

 

[hbarcat]

Edit: Charon at higher resolution:
(Thanks for the correction, DJ.)

 

[David Jayne]

It's the other way around--the gray one with the big hole in it is Charon. Pluto is the orange-y one.