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[DieH@rd]

Amazing.

 

[SymbiantXenos]

Wonder how many impacts from the Kuiper belt those two attract.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

I'm really surprised me don't have a satellite orbiting every planet in our Solar System. Forgot the rover, let's just collect basic information.

Not practical for some planets.

 

[BorkBork]

They are tidally locked so I wouldn't think so. Very strange.

Totally. I always thought Pluto was just a frozen husk of a rock, but the notion of it being so far from the sun and always in the dark, just bubbling away with heat and activity is so cool and unexpected!

 

[spekkeh]

The Greek X produces the K sound but is translated to English as chi. The CH makes the same sound as in Christy or Chronos. Not to be confused with the Greek Kappa, but that's a different story.

Interesting, I looked it up, and apparently the Ancient Greek pronounciation would indeed be Karon ([Kh]aron), but the Koine or Modern Greek version would be Charon ([X]aron) (with the ch as in the Scottisch Loch, Dutch/German ach, etc.). But.. what is usual, the ancient or modern greek pronounciation? (and when did the pronounciation change?)

 

[The_Inquisitor]

Interesting, I looked it up, and apparently the Ancient Greek pronounciation would indeed be Karon ([Kh]aron), but the Koine or Modern Greek version would be Charon ([X]aron) (with the ch as in the Scottisch Loch, Dutch/German ach, etc.). But.. what is usual, the ancient or modern greek pronounciation? (and when did the pronounciation change?)

As someone who learned modern Greek growing up, ancient Greek is really hard to say out loud. At least for someone whose second language is Greek.

 

[CitizenVectron]

Well we also say Pare-iss and not Pear-EE, and Bur-lin and not Bear-lin, so I feel comfortable saying Sharon if that's what I am hearing many scientists refer to it as.

 

[Megasoum]

I'm pretty sure the river styx ferry of the underworld isn't French.

...

 

[Mengy]

How do mountains on Pluto form? Especially "youthful" ones. While that term is relative, I would imagine pluto isn't seismically active with a warm interior and moving plates and faults, like earth.

We aren't sure yet, but if I had to make an educated guess, I'd say the geologic activity is most likely due to gravitational forces acting between Charon and Pluto due to their binary orbit. Since the dwarf planets are so "small" even low gravity forces could probably create tectonic activity. Just a guess though. Still, Pluto and Charon are far, FAR more interesting than we imagined.

 

[Schrade]

"Views of Pluto Through the Years

This animation combines various observations of Pluto over the course of several decades."

 

[Volotaire]

Goodness, I've just spent a few hours reading Wikipedia articles about robotic space probes within and outside our Solar System for the past few hours. I do love Space! What a shame that most of the juicy space exploration won't be happening for a few hundred years.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

Goodness, I've just spent a few hours reading Wikipedia articles about robotic space probes within and outside our Solar System for the past few hours. I do love Space! What a shame that most of the juicy space exploration won't be happening for a few hundred years.

There are so many missions that barely get covered at all in the news that it's easy to miss stuff if you aren't looking for it. I don't think I realized we already have another orbiter on its way to Jupiter until the other day.

 

[Xun]

"Views of Pluto Through the Years

This animation combines various observations of Pluto over the course of several decades."

Phenomenal stuff.

 

[Insane Metal]

Awesome pictures!

Also, I asked yesterday in this very thread, why there were so few craters on its surface. Now they say it's very young, possibly <100M yo. This is awesome! Also, Charon looks beautiful. OMG <3

 

[titiklabingapat]

Wow, all this activity on Pluto means a higher chance of future missions. They said they will come back if there is warranted scientific reasons to and PLuto being geologically active is more than enough reason!

 

[Fried Food]

I want, no, I NEED, to see these rocket scientists play kerbal space program.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

Wow, all this activity on Pluto means a higher chance of future missions. They said they will come back if there is warranted scientific reasons to and PLuto being geologically active is more than enough reason!

It'll be harder to send something there anytime soon, won't it? Both due to Jupiter's position and Pluto moving away from the ecliptic.

 

[Cyberius]

I want, no, I NEED, to see these rocket scientists play kerbal space program.

I saw an article about that a few months ago. As it turns out, NASA engineers do like to play Kerbal Space Program.

 

[Insane Metal]

Wow, all this activity on Pluto means a higher chance of future missions. They said they will come back if there is warranted scientific reasons to and PLuto being geologically active is more than enough reason!

Nah, at that distance I don't really think so. They'll most probably focus on Europa, Titan and Io.

 

[ivysaur12]

"Views of Pluto Through the Years

This animation combines various observations of Pluto over the course of several decades."

I got shivers watching this.

 

[Version 3.0]

It is a planet. A dwarf planet.
Would you say a dwarf human isn't a human?

Actually, when the IAU designated the term, they specifically said it's not a planet, despite the grammar. Those boneheads.

 

[KillGore]

Would be cool if they reclassified Charon as a Dwarf Planet. Then we would have a binary dwarf planet in our solar system.

 

[Version 3.0]

This would made the journey significantly longer because half the trip would have been about slowing down enough to be caught by Pluto's gravity well. It already took close to a decade, it would take more than twice as long to actually land.

Plus one of the biggest weight concerns when it comes to launching off Earth is the fuel. Google a random image of a Saturn rocket or the tanks the space shuttles are attached to on launch. The actual space craft is a small fraction. Now considering that they would have to add significantly more fuel for the slow down process and adding more also adds more weight they need to account for with more fuel.

Yes, sending a craft to orbit or land would probably require sending up a rocket to assemble in space, and then re-launching the probe from there. Also, Pluto's on its way out to greater distances from us, and also off the plane of the ecliptic.

 

[Version 3.0]

Would be cool if they reclassified Charon as a Dwarf Planet. Then we would have a binary dwarf planet in our solar system.

They really should. There's more than one proposed definition for a binary planetary system, but the most popular one is that the point of orbit is outside both planets. Pluto and Charon certainly qualify for that (except that they're not planets).

 

[elfinke]

[/img]http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pluto-observations-through-the-years.gif[/img]
"Views of Pluto Through the Years

This animation combines various observations of Pluto over the course of several decades."

Awesome, though I wish it were slightly slower.

 

[zeshakag]

Yes, sending a craft to orbit or land would probably require sending up a rocket to assemble in space, and then re-launching the probe from there. Also, Pluto's on its way out to greater distances from us, and also off the plane of the ecliptic.

A more likely alternative (for now) is just exploiting gravity assists and waiting for a longer trip. New Horizons was launched at a whopping what, 16 km/s? at the beginning of its Earth-Pluto transit. Fastest launch anybody has ever performed. If the Philae operation can be accomplished, so can a Pluto orbital satellite, just on a much longer time scale.

The SLS might aid in orbital reconnaissance of outer bodies in the future, as it packs a ton of delta v, more than the Saturn V.

 

[TyrantII]

"Views of Pluto Through the Years

This animation combines various observations of Pluto over the course of several decades."

Their eyes uncovered!

 

[Abstruse Moose]

A little off topic. This is from the Rosetta probe:

It's cool to see a flightpath visualized like that. I wonder how fast you could move through space just using gravity assists.

 

[EndlessSky]

A little off topic. This is from the Rosetta probe:

It's cool to see a flightpath visualized like that. I wonder how fast you could move through space just using gravity assists.

That's insane to plot the route a decade in advance and to be precise enough to do those gravity assists in order to end up at the comet. Really cool stuff.

 

[cameron]

News/Discoveries:

-Pluto may still be geologically active today. Mountains might only be 100 million years old.
-Pluto’s atmosphere is being lost in space. It’s lost about 300 meters of nitrogen
-Charon terrain is varied and reshaped by geologic activity.

The short articles released with the new images are worth reading. Stoked at what they'll find after an extended analysis.

 

[GK86]

 

[Scrooged]

It's cool to see a flightpath visualized like that. I wonder how fast you could move through space just using gravity assists.

If Star Trek has taught me anything, it's that you can slingshot around a sun so fast you can go back in time.

 

[Space Monster]

Wow, all this activity on Pluto means a higher chance of future missions. They said they will come back if there is warranted scientific reasons to and PLuto being geologically active is more than enough reason!

For a complete global survey you'll need to wait until around aphelion, which isn't until 2113. So there's no rush.

What's the fastest you could get a probe out there using something like a VASIMR engine? Low thrust, but constantly on for years at a time...

 

[privitsan02]

Charron is a common french last name in Québec and it's pronounced sha-ron

I say Sharon too due to this. Karon sounds incredibly odd but then again, it doesn't sound as dumb as Stephan = Steven to me.

Best wishes.

 

[Incognito]

So incredibly impressive. Can't begin to wrap my head around this stuff, and that flight path....

 

[cameron]

There are so many missions that barely get covered at all in the news that it's easy to miss stuff if you aren't looking for it. I don't think I realized we already have another orbiter on its way to Jupiter until the other day.

I forgot about Juno, too. From the recent AMA with The Planetary Society:

A diagram, updated once a month, of active space missions traveling beyond Earth orbit.

 

[Pagusas]

I say Sharon too due to this. Karon sounds incredibly odd but then again, it doesn't sound as dumb as Stephan = Steven to me.

Best wishes.

I've been pronouncing it as "chair-Ron" :-/

 

[Schrade]

I say Sharon too due to this. Karon sounds incredibly odd but then again, it doesn't sound as dumb as Stephan = Steven to me.

Best wishes.

I always look at Charon like how Lich is pronounced Lick (with some hocking a loogie sound at the ick part)

 

[Abstruse Moose]

I pronounce it Care Ron.

 

[GK86]

NASA: "Charon has a young surface. Its terrain is different than what we imagined. Possibly still has an active surface as well. Here is still great photo of Charon too."

GAF: "Lets debate how to pronounce Charon."

 

[Fenderputty]

NASA: "Charon has a young surface. Its terrain is different than what we imagined. Possibly still has an active surface as well. Here is still great photo of Charon too."

:O

I'm legit mind blown

 

[Chuck]

I didn't know it was Sharon either <_<

 

[The Sum of Zero]

LTTP but damn, all that new info and those pictures. Did not expect Pluto to possibly be geologically active or so "young".

They seriously named that black spot on Charon Mordor? Awesome.

Spoiler

I continue to pronounce it Ka-ron. Thanks, Shin Megami Tensei.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

I forgot about Juno, too. From the recent AMA with The Planetary Society:

I was just wondering if a chart like this exists. This is fuckin rad.

 

[eyeball_kid]

There are so many missions that barely get covered at all in the news that it's easy to miss stuff if you aren't looking for it. I don't think I realized we already have another orbiter on its way to Jupiter until the other day.

And missions that have a big explosion of news and then people forget about. Like the fact that we still have two rovers operating on Mars. Opportunity has been rolling around the planet since 2004. 2004. It's intended working life was 90 days. It's been keepin' on for 11 cotdamn years. Voyager 1 launched in 1977. It's still sending back data from interstellar space. NASA does all this stuff on a shoestring, paltry paltry budget. Insulting budget. And meanwhile the F-35 still isn't working yet, sucking up taxpayer money like a black hole.

I mean, how many people even see all the images Curiosity is taking? NASA definitely has a marketing problem, that beautiful vistas of Mars go unseen by most of the public. This was taken today.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

And missions that have a big explosion of news and then people forget about. Like the fact that we still have two rovers operating on Mars. Opportunity has been rolling around the planet since 2004. 2004. It's intended working life was 90 days. It's been keepin' on for 11 cotdamn years. Voyager 1 launched in 1977. It's still sending back data from interstellar space. NASA does all this stuff on a shoestring, paltry paltry budget. Insulting budget. And meanwhile the F-35 still isn't working yet, sucking up taxpayer money like a black hole.

I mean, how many people even see all the images Curiosity is taking? NASA definitely has a marketing problem, that beautiful vistas of Mars go unseen by most of the public. This was taken today.

Damn, that's a nice pic.

 

[xenist]

I hate seeing a name as cool as Charon being pronounced like it belongs to some soccer mom.

Being Greek I have to pull rank on this. its Kha-ron not Sha-ron.

 

[fanboi]

And missions that have a big explosion of news and then people forget about. Like the fact that we still have two rovers operating on Mars. Opportunity has been rolling around the planet since 2004. 2004. It's intended working life was 90 days. It's been keepin' on for 11 cotdamn years. Voyager 1 launched in 1977. It's still sending back data from interstellar space. NASA does all this stuff on a shoestring, paltry paltry budget. Insulting budget. And meanwhile the F-35 still isn't working yet, sucking up taxpayer money like a black hole.

I mean, how many people even see all the images Curiosity is taking? NASA definitely has a marketing problem, that beautiful vistas of Mars go unseen by most of the public. This was taken today.

 

[Chichikov]

Damn, that's a nice pic.

In case you missed it -

Anyway, yeah, NASA isn't getting enough budget but I think they're getting much better at PR. The internet helped immensely.

 

[Skeletron]

What website should I be looking at to keep track of the most recent high resolution space photographs from the rovers and probes and stuff out there?