NASA Social Media Conducts Web Chat on New Horizons Pluto Mission at the Applied Physics Laboratory

POT. NEW HORIZONS PLUTO. JASON TOWNSEND. NASA SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM. MIKE RYSCHKEWITSCH. SPACE EXPLORATION. EXPLORATION. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY. LAUREL, MARYLAND. GREEN JIM. DIRECTOR OF PLANETARY SCIENCES AT NASA. ALAN STERN. SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE. INSTITUTE. HERSMAN. MISSION SYSTEMS ENGINEER. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY. KIMMEN CO. KIM. IN COHUSSY HUSSEY. JET PROPULSION LABORATORY. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. HUSSEY. ENICO. NEW HORIZONS 37 NEW HORIZONS. RAOEURB. EUROPE. CHARON. KUIPER BELT. NEPTUNE. ELLIPTICAL. AOE KHREUB IN PARTICULAR. ECLIPTIC. ASTRONOMICAL. HABITANT. MORALS. SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE. NEW HORIZONS TELESCOPE. PUPPET PUPPET. PUPPETEER PUPPETEER. PUPPETEER. PUPPET PUPPET. Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test Test TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST. \M\M FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE.

AND LIFT OFF OF NASA'S NEW HORIZONTS SPACECRAFT AND BEYOND. \M\M HELLO. WELCOME TO THE APPLIED PHYSICS LAB HERE IN LAUREL, MARYLAND. TODAY WILL BE A DEEP DIVE IN PLUTO AND THE NEW HORIZONS MISSION OF NASA. WE ARE ALSO WITH OUR FRIENDS WHO ARE FOLLOWING ONLINE AT THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY IN FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA WHERE PLUTO WAS DISCOVERED MANY, MANY YEARS AGO. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO JOIN US ONLINE, WE WILL LOOK AT THE SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND SOME OF THE NEW THINGS NEW HORIZONS WILL BE DOING FOR A PLUTO FLYFLY ON JULY 14. IF YOU ARE FOLLOWING ONLINE, THE CONVERSATION IS BEING DONE WITH #NASASOCIAL.

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE MISSION USING #PLUTOFLYBY. YOU CAN JOIN US ATNASANEW HORIZONS ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK. WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, WE JUMP RIGHT HERE. THE FIRST TO WELCOME US TODAY FROM THE APPLIED PHYSICS LAB IS HEAD OF SPACE EXPLORATION MIKE RYSCHKEWITSCH. GOOD AFTERNOON. WE ARE HAPPY TO HAVE YOU HERE AT THE JOHNS HOPKINS LABORATORY OF APPLIED PHYSICS. I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU A LITTLE ABOUT THE JOHNS HOPKINS APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY'S JOURNEY INTO SPACE. IT ACTUALLY BEGINS DURING THE DEPTHS OF WORLD WAR II. THE LABORATORY WAS FOUNDED TO WORK ON PROXIMITY USES FOR NAVAL ANTI-AIR WEAPONS. THIS INVENTION WAS CONSIDERED AS ONE OF THE THREE MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, WITH THE ATOMIC BOMB AND RADAR.

JAMES VAN ALLEN, FOR WHOM THE RADIATION BELTS ARE NAMED. AND JIM GREEN, ONE OF THE STUDENTS, IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES BEGAN TO USE THE GERMAN B-2 BROUGHT AFTER THE YEAR TO BEGIN THE EXPLORATION OF SPACE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE ELECTRONICS THAT THEY HAD DEVELOPED FOR THESE ANIA-AIRCRAFT PROJECTORS AND BEGAN THE EXPLORATION WITH BOTH UNDERSTANDING FROM SPACE. FAST FORWARD A FEW YEARS MORE, SOME OF THE SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS IN THE LAB WERE TRACKING SPUTNIK AND LISTENING TO THE RADIO SIGNALS IN REAL LIFE THEY COULD TRACK THE SATELLITE BY LISTENING BY WORKING ON THE DOPPLER SHIFT OF THE RADIO SIGNALS.

AND THEN THEY HAD THE IDEA THAT THEY COULD CHANGE THAT PROCESS. IF THEY WERE ON THE GROUND AND COULD FIND OUT WHERE THE SATELLITE WAS, THEY COULD DEFINE WHERE SOME POINT ON THE GROUND WAS. WHICH LEADS TO BEING ABLE TO SOLVE A CRITICAL PROBLEM FOR THE NAVY AND NAVIGATION. THAT REALLY PUT US IN THE SPACE BUSINESS. AND I AM NOT GOING TO GO THROUGH ALL THE DOZENS AND DOZENS OF SPACE MISSIONS THAT†-- SPACESHIP WE HAVE LAUNCHED IN THE MIDDLE. I WILL ONLY TALK ABOUT SOME CURRENT. WE DO A LOT OF HELIOPHYSICS AND THE PLANETARY SIDE.

WE ARE IN THE FULL STAGE OF THE SOLO PLEX MISSION. YOU MAY WANT TO LOOK AT THAT. WE WILL ARRIVE WITHIN 10 SOLAR RDI TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE CORONA IS HEAT AND SOLAR WINDS ARE GENERATED. A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME, WE HAVE COMPLETED THE MESSENGER MISSION TO MERCURY. WE HAD A TRULY WONDERFUL AND SUCCESSFUL MISSION. UNFORTUNATELY OUR FUEL SUPPLY WAS FINITE AND WE DID WHAT WE CALL THE SURFACE SPLASH A FEW WEEKS AGO. MERCURY AND MESSENGER ARE A LITTLE DAM. WE KNEW A LOT ABOUT MERCURY. WE KNEW NOTHING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLANET. YOU HAVE A HIGH RESOLUTION VERSION ON YOUR SCREEN BUT WE HAVE MERCURY AND A LOT OF DETAILED KNOWLEDGE.

THAT IS ONLY THE VISUAL REPRESENTATION. BECAUSE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF WATER ICE AT THE POLES AND CRATERS, THINGS LIKE THAT, ARE POSITIVELY BORING. I AM VERY EXCITED TO BE HERE WITH YOU. WE HOPE YOU WILL FOLLOW US IN THE NEXT WEEKS. BECAUSE WHAT WE ARE GOING TO LEARN ABOUT PLUTO OVER THE NEXT WEEKS AND MONTHS AS ALL THE DATA IS DOWNLOADED I LOVE SO MUCH. IT LOOKS LIKE THIS RIGHT NOW. AS WE COMPLETE THAT, IT'S REALLY GOING TO BE AMAZING. SO THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE THIS AFTERNOON. THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING US AND SHARING OUR ADVENTURE WITH THE WORLD.

WELCOME. WONDERFUL TO SET THE MOOD A LITTLE BIT. WE HAVE A QUICK VIDEO TO INTRODUCE PLUTO. THERE IS A MYSTERIOUS ZONE FAR IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. IT IS A REGION OF ICE WORLDS. SOME SINGLE, SOME WITH MOONS. THEIR FAMILY NAMES. USE AIR. MAY HOLE. THEY CONTAIN CLUES TO ALL OF OUR ORIGINS AND THE FIRST OF THESE WORLDS AND THE ONE WE WILL REACH IN 2015 IS THE KUIPER BELT PARENT PLUTO. THE LONG JOURNEY OF NASA'S NEW HORIZONS MISSION BEGAN IN 2006 ABOARD THE BIGGEST AND BADEST ROCKET IN AMERICA, EQUIPPED WITH EVERY IMAGINABLE BOOSTER. WE HAVE A VERY LIGHT SHIP AND PURCHASED A VERY LARGE LAUNCH VEHICLE.

AND THE COMBINATION IS FIERCE. BUT IN SOME WAY IT ALL STARTED IN 1930, WITH CLYDE TOM VALUE, 24 YEARS OLD, FRESHLY OFF THE FARM IN KANSAS, BUT WILLING TO SPEND LONG HOURS EXPLORING STARFIELDS TO FIND THE MOVING POINT OF LIGHT. THE FIRST GLANCE OF PLUTO HUMANITY. IT BEGAN WITH A 6-YEAR-OLD BOY IN LOVE WITH SCIENCE WHO GROWN UP TO LEAD A TEAM OF BRILLIANT RESEARCHERS AND ENGINEERS WITH PERSISTENCE AND DECADES OF BUILDING AND TESTING, A RACE AGAINST TIME JUST TO GET TO THE LAUNCH PAD. EXPLORING THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM, BECAUSE IT'S SO FAR AWAY, IT TAKES A LONG TIME.

IT REQUIRES A LOT OF PATIENCE, A LOT OF DEDICATION, A LOT OF PERSEVERANCE. BUT IT IS A BORDER. ASSUME ALL GOES RIGHT ON PLUTO, NASA CAN EXTEND THE ADVENTURE FURTHER INTO THE KUIPER BELT INTO THE MYSTERIOUS THIRD ZONE. THIS MAY BE THE ONLY CHANCE IN MY LIFE FOR US TO GET TO THE SHIP AND LOOK CLOSELY AT ONE OF THE KUIPER BELT OBJECTS. DECEMBER 6, 2014. NEW HORIZONTS WAKES UP FOR THE LAST TIME FROM HIBERNATION. NEW HORIZONS IS ACCELERATING TOWARDS PLUTO AT A PHENOMENAL RATE. WE CAN'T WAIT FOR IT TO GET THERE. JANUARY 27, 2015, SINCE MONTHS OF APPROXIMATE SCIENCE BEGAN.

JULY 14, 2015, THE LONG VOYAGE OF NEW HORIZONS, 3 BILLION, NINE YEARS IN FLIGHT AND 85 YEARS OF SPECULATION ABOUT PLUTO'S CLIMAX IN ONE DAY CLOSE AND FLYBY. WE ARE ROUNDING THIRD BASE AND HEADING HOME. THE DREAM, THE ADVENTURE, THE IMPULSES OF DISCOVERY. THAT'S WHAT MAKES 2015 THE YEAR OF PLUTO. ALL GOOD. SOME OF THOSE FACES YOU SEE WILL LOOK VERY FAMILIAR BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO HEAR ABOUT THEM NOW. UP FIRST TO TALK A LITTLE ABOUT NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE AND HOW THIS NEW HORIZONS MISSION COMES TO DR. JIM GREEN FROM NASA HEADQUARTERS. Jim? THANK YOU SO MUCH, JASON. SO THIS IS AN EXCITING TIME, OBVIOUSLY.

PLUTO WAS A BEAUTIFUL PLANET. WHAT WE CALL, WE DON'T CARE, DWARF PLANET. IT IS A BODY WORTH INVESTIGATION. IT IS THE ARCHETYPE OF A NEW SET OF OBJECTS. IMAGINE IN YOUR LIFE THAT WE HAVE DISCOVERED A WHOLE NEW REGION TO EXPLORE IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, THAT THIRD ZONE. WHAT DO WE WANT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT IT AS THE THIRD ZONE? TERRESTRIAL PLANET? MERCURY, VENUS, EARTH, MARS. AND EVEN THE ASTEROID BELT. THAT IS AN AREA WHERE THERE IS MATERIAL THAT TRIES TO BECOME A PLANET BUT JUPITER DID NOT LET IT. GRAVITY KEEPS PULLING THEM APART. AND THEN THE SECOND AREA, THE GAS GIANTS.

JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS AND NEPTUNE. AND NOW PLUTO IS PART OF MAYBE 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 OBJECTS LIKE IT. FOR THE FIRST TIME WE ARE GOING TO FLY AROUND PLUTO AND HAVE A GOOD VIEW. NOW, I AM OFTEN ASKED, WHY ARE WE FLYING ACCORDING TO HIM? AS MIKE MENTIONED, WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT MERCURY, WE DID FLY MERCURY ONCE. THAT IS A RECOGNITION. ONCE WE SEE WHAT THE BODIES LOOK LIKE AND MAKE PLANS TO RETURN, THEN WE WANT TO PUT INTO ORBIT. THEN, OF COURSE, THE NEXT IS THE ORBITATION GIVES US HIGH RESOLUTION INFORMATION THAT GIVES US INFORMATION TO EARTH. AND THEN ROVE AND THEN MAYBE RETURN SAMPLES.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE MOON, WE FLY AROUND IT, ORBIT IT, LAND IT, NAVIGATE. OUR CLOSEST OBJECT TO EARTH. WE FLY BY MARS EARLY OVER 50 YEARS AGO. WE ORBIT. MANY ORBITERS. WE HAVE SURFACE LANDERS NOW AND ORBITERS. AND THE NEXT STEP, OF COURSE, IS THAT WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO BRING SAMPLES. SO PLUTO, HERE WE GO. THIS IS A FLIGHT MISSION. A HISTORICAL MISSION WE WANT TO REVIEW IT WELL. THAT WILL ALLOW US TO FIND OUT WHAT THE NEXT STEPS ARE. AND I THINK THIS ITEM IS GOING TO BE SO EXCITING THAT WE WILL WANT TO COME BACK.

AND I HOPE WE CAN GO BACK IN OUR LIVES, MAYBE ORBITED. THAT WOULD BE A TRULY SPECTACULAR MISSION. BUT RIGHT NOW WE ARE ON THE RIGHT WAY. AS ALAN MENTIONED EARLIER IN THE VIDEO, WE ARE MORE THAN THIRD BASE. WE MOVED FAST, ON THE WAY HOME. AND IT WILL BE A REAL GAME FOR US. SO I THINK I HAVE TIME FOR A FEW MORE QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY. ALL GOOD. THOSE IN THE ROOM, WAIT FOR A MICROPHONE. OTHERWISE, WE HAVE QUESTIONS FROM THE LOWELL LINE. WE ARE ALSO TAKING YOUR QUESTIONS USING #ASKNASA IF YOU ARE FOLLOWING AT HOME.

IF NEW HORIZONS PROVES THAT THERE IS WATER ON PLUTO OR INSIDE PLUTO, IS THERE A DIFFERENCE IN PLUTO'S HEIGHT? THE HEIGHT OF THE CONTAMINATED FOOT IN MY MIND AS A SCIENTIST IS ALREADY THERE. IT IS ALREADY AN OBJECT WORTH EXAMINING IN GREAT DETAIL. YOU KNOW, THE MORE WE SEE AND ANALYZE THE DATA FROM OUR MISSIONS, THE MORE WE REALIZE THE IMPORTANCE PLAYED BY WATER NOT ONLY IN LIFE BUT IN ALL OUR AREAS OF YOUR SOLAR SYSTEM. AND I BELIEVE THAT THE KUIPER BELT IS FULL OF WATER ICE AND FULL OF OTHER VOLATILES AND MAYBE PLAYS A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN POWERING LIFE HERE ON EARTH.

WE NOW KNOW FROM OUR MODELS THAT THE PLANETS WHERE THEY ARE NOW, IN PARTICULAR THE GAS GIANTS ARE NOT WHERE THEY ORIGINALLY FORMED. AND JUPITER'S GRAVITY PUSHED THEM VERY EARLY INTO THE SOLAR SYSTEM. WHICH TOOK THE KUIPER BELT AREA AND BROUGHT IT IN, BROUGHT THE COMETS, ASTEROIDS AND OBJECTS OF THE COPPER BELT AND BROUGHT WATER WHICH THEN OF COURSE HERE ON EARTH IS SO ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE TO GROW. WE ARE JUST BEGINNING TO REALIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF KUIPER BELT OBJECTS. AND I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF WE SEE WATER ICE. I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF WE SEE FEATURES THAT TELL US A LOT ABOUT HOW THESE OBJECTS GET TOGETHER.

AND THAT IS GOING TO BE CRITICAL TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. WONDERFUL. OUR NEXT QUESTION COMES FROM THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY. HELLO. MY NAME IS CARMEN AUSTIN, NASA LOWELL SOCIAL OBSERVATORY. I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE SPEED OF THE NEW HORIZONTS SPACESHIP. FROM WHAT I KNOW IT HAS BEEN MENTIONED TODAY WE LIKE TO SAY THAT NEW HORIZONS WAS THE FASTEST SPACECRAFT EVER LAUNCHED. AND THAT SOUNDS AWESOME. BUT I HEARD THAT THE HELIUM 2 PRO IS THE FASTEST MAN-MADE SPACESHIP OR VEHICLE OF ANY KIND. SO WHICH IS REALLY THE FASTEST AND WHY DO WE SAY THEY ARE BOTH THE FASTEST?

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? WELL, REALLY, THE LITTLE VIDEO TOLD US TO BARE THE ATLAS. WE GOT AS MUCH POWER OUT OF IT AS WE POSSIBLY CAN. AND AT LAUNCH IT WAS THE FASTEST SPACECRAFT. BUT THESE SPACECRAFT MOVES THROUGH OUR SOLAR SYSTEM TO GET WHERE THEY NEED TO GO, THERE'S ALL KINDS OF GRAVITY, ALL KINDS OF THINGS WE HAVE TO DO TO CHANGE THEIR SPEED, CHANGE THEIR DIRECTION, TO GET TO THEIR LOCATION. IN FACT, HELIOS 1 AND 2 HAVE A LOT OF SPACECRAFT. THEY NO LONGER EXIST. THEY NO LONGER HAVE ANY DATA. THEY COME BACK AND THEY HAVE BEEN DEAD FOR PROBABLY 20 YEARS.

SO WE NEED TO KEEP LOOKING FORWARD. IN FACT, NEW HORIZONS IS CURRENTLY THE FASTEST SPACECRAFT IN OUR CURRENT OPERATING FLEET, WITHOUT EXCESS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. ALL GOOD. NEXT QUESTION IN THE ROOM HERE. OTHER QUESTIONS? WHAT WAS THE TIME FRAME, WHAT IS THE RANGE OF ALCOHOL FROM SLEEP TO ARRIVAL? SO IT TOOK MANY, MANY YEARS. I AM NOT INVOLVED IN THE FIRST PART. BUT ALAN WAS. PLEASE LEAVE THAT QUESTION TO ALAN NOW BECAUSE I'M SURE HE WILL TELL YOU HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OF FINISHING THIS MISSION IN THE BOOKS. BUT I TELL YOU THAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR MISSIONS DO TAKE A LONG TIME TO MATURE THE CONCEPT, FIT IT AND MAKE IT COMPETITIVE SO THAT THEN NASA SELECTS THE BEST IDEA.

THIS IS REALLY A DIFFICULT BUSINESS FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE. BUT WHEN WE MAKE A SELECTION, WE CAN GUARANTEE THAT THESE ARE THE MAIN MISSIONS THAT HUMANS HAVE CARRIED OUT IN THESE AREAS. AND NEW HORIZONS IS CERTAINLY IN THAT CATEGORY. ALL GOOD. ANOTHER QUESTION FROMLOWELL. HELLO. GOOD AFTERNOON. THIS IS MICHAEL KAISER FROM THE NASA SOCIAL IN LOWELL. SO MY QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH THE MOTE TRAFFIC OF MY INSTRUMENTS AT NASA. CAN WE DETERMINE THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF PLUTO'S CHEMICAL COMPOSITION? THAT'S ANOTHER GREAT QUESTION FOR ALAN. I DON'T WANT TO TAKE AWAY ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS BECAUSE IT REALLY HAS THE DETAILS OF ALL THE INSTRUMENTS.

SO LET'S SAVE THAT FOR HIM. ALL GOOD. OTHER QUESTIONS IN THE ROOM? HELLO, DR. GREEN. YOU TOUCHED IT A LITTLE YESTERDAY AT THE SMITHSONIAN, BUT I KNOW THE MISSION IS 200 WATTS FOR THE PELLETS. HOW LONG COULD THE MISSION CONTINUE? HOW HAS IT BEEN FOR WELL MORE THAN 25 YEARS? WHAT MAKES A MISSION LAST? IT HAS TO HAVE POWER. NEW HORIZONS BRINGS ITS OWN POWER WITH IT. HOW DOES THIS ITEM RIGHT HERE ON THE BACK OF THE SPACECRAFT IS A RADIOISOTOPE THERMAL GENERATOR. AND YOU SAY IT USES PLUTONIUM 238 IN AVA RIGHT PRODUCTS, ONE OF WHICH IS HUMAN YUM.

IT IS NAKED OF ALL ITS ELECTRONS. GIVES HIM A PUNCH. THAT CAN HEAT THINGS. WE TAKE THE HEAT FROM THE DECOMPOSITION OF PLUTONIUM AND TURN IT INTO ELECTRICITY BY CHARGING BATTERIES AND USING THE BATTERIES. SO AS LONG AS IT TAKES ITS OWN POWER, IT'S GOING TO DO VERY WELL. SO LIKE THE VOYAGERS, WHICH ALSO HAVE RADIOISOTOPE POWER SYSTEMS IN THEM, THEY DECAY OVER TIME. RIGHT NOW THE VOYAGERS ARE WORKING ON A QUESTION OF 10 WATTS OR SO MUCH. IT WILL TAKE SEVERAL DECADES BEFORE THE NEW HORIZONS REACH THE LOW-WATT AREA. AS LONG AS THE SPACECRAFT IS IN HEALTH, AS LONG AS ITS INSTRUMENTS ARE ABLE TO WORK WITH THE AVAILABLE POWER, IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CONTINUE OPERATION.

THANK YOU. YOU BET. ALL GOOD. OUR NEXT QUESTION COMES FROM LOWELL. THIS IS PAULINA AT NASA'S LOWELL SOCIAL OBSERVATORY. -- OR DO YOU THINK THERE IS A CHANCE THAT AN APPROACH WE WILL HAVE NEW IDEAS TOTALLY? WELL, YOU KNOW, FROM A NASA PERSPECTIVE, AS I MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING, WE DON'T CARE WHAT WE CALL IT, PLANET, DWARF PLANET. BUT I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT THIS IS A FASCINATING BODY. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. YOU KNOW, PLUTO AND CHARON ARE QUITE MASSIVE. THEY DO THIS DANCE AROUND THE CENTER OF GRAVITY.

THE CENTER OF GRAVITY BETWEEN EARTH AND OUR MOON IS WELL WITHIN OUR EARTH. AND IT SEEMS LIKE THE MOON IS CONSTANTLY GOING AROUND THE EARTH. BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS SYSTEM IS ABOUT AT ALL. IT IS MORE LIKE BINARY STARS WHERE YOU HAVE TWO COMPARABLE OBJECTS FIGHTING. AND THE MOONS, THE MOONS ARE SOMETIMES CHAOTICALLY DIMENED AND ALSO QUITE FASCINATING. SO THIS SYSTEM WAS NOT LIKE ANYTHING WE HAVE SEEN. WHEN THAT HAPPENS, YOU ALWAYS WANT TO RETHINK WHAT YOU KNOW AND WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED. AND THEN YOU CAN MOVE ON WITH NEW AND DIFFERENT IDEAS. SO WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

ALL GOOD. ONE MORE QUESTION IN THE ROOM HERE. HEY, SO WITH WHAT YOU JUST SAID ABOUT THE CENTER OF GRAVITY BETWEEN PLUTO AND THE MOON, THAT WILL INFER THAT THERE IS SOME KIND OF STABLE ORBITS LIKE A LE GRUNGE DOT. COULD THE NEW HORIZONS SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING THERE TOO? ABSOLUTELY. NEW HORIZONS, ON ITS WAY TOWARDS PLUTO, CONSTANTLY SCANS THE ENTIRE AREA. WE REALLY ARE VERY LUCKY THAT PLUTO'S AXIS OF ROTATION IS LAYING DOWN MORE LIKE THE PLANETS' PLANE, OKAY. AND THEN THAT MEANS THEIR MOONS ARE SHOWN RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. SO WE CAN BETTER SEE THEIR POSITIONS, UNDERSTAND THEIR MASSES, UNDERSTAND THEIR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM, HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW GRAVITATIONAL RESONANCES ARE ALLOWING THE MOONS TO EXIST IN THESE PLACES AND NOT IN OTHERS.

SO ALL THAT SCIENCE IS GOING TO BE DONE WHILE WE ARE TAKING THIS FLIGHT AND GETTING THE DATA. ALL GOOD. ONE MORE QUESTION FROM LOWELL. AND LOWELL HAS NO MORE QUESTIONS. THANK YOU. VERY OK, THEN. LET'S GIVE JIM A APPLAUSE. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY. MY PLEASURE. NEXT THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR OF THE NEW HORIZONS MISSION, DR. ALAN STERN OF THE SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE. ALAN? HELLO EVERYONE. GOOD AFTERNOON. IS THE MIKE LIVE? CAN YOU HEAR IT? EXCELLENT. WELL, I'M EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT NEW HORIZONS. AND THANKS TO JIM FOR PUTTING IT ALL IN CONTEXT WITHIN NASA'S PLANETARY EXPLORATION PROGRAM.

IF WE CAN HAVE THE FIRST TIME STEP. GO GO UP THE FIRST SLIDE, DAVID. THIS IS A CARTOON VIEW. IT STARTS VERY LOW BY THE SUN. EACH OF THOSE TARGETS ARE THE MIDDLE SOLAR SYSTEM. YOU CANNOT EVEN SEE THE ORBITS OF EARTH AND MARS, MERCURY AND VENUS ON THIS SCALE. THIS IS TRULY AN EPIC JOURNEY. ALL THE WAY THROUGH OUR SOLAR SYSTEM TO THE VERY FRONTIER OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE. AND UP TO THE VERY FRONTIER OF EXPLORATION. WE FOLLOW IN THE STEPS OF THE GIANTS. GIANTS CALLED MARINER, FIRST TO MARS AND FIRST TO VENUS. FIRST TO MERCURY.

GIANTS LIKE PIONEER, FIRST TO JUPITER AND SATURN. AND OF COURSE THE HISTORY VOYAGER MISSION, FIRST TO URANUS AND FIRST TO NEPTUNE. AND DAWN, FIRST OF A SERIES. THESE ARE THE PLANETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. THESE ARE THE MISSIONS AND THE MISSION TEAMS THAT HAVE OPENED THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF WHAT CARL SAGAN CALLED POINTS OF LIGHT TO TRUE PLANETS WHERE WE CAN WRITE THE TEXTBOOKS AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT, OUR SURROUNDINGS GREATEST BEYOND FROM THE EARTH, OUR SOLAR SYSTEM FOR THE HOME. NEW HORIZONTS HAS FLYEN SINCE 2006 AT RECORD SPEED CROSSING THE BITS OF MARS, JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS AND NEPTUNE, IN EACH CASE SETTING A RECORD FOR THE SHORT COURSE ORBIT OF THAT PLANET TO INTERCEPT PLUTO IN JULY, ON JULY 14 , BASTILLE DAY, 2015 YOU SEE THE THIRD ZONE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM PICTURED HERE.

THE KUIPER BELT IS THE LARGEST STRUCTURE AND WAS NOT EVEN DISCOVERED UNTIL THE 1990S. NEW HORIZONS IS THE FIRST EXPLORATION OF THAT REGION. THE PRIMARY TARGET IS THE PLUTO SYSTEM. PLUTO IS THE LARGEST, THE BRIGHTEST, THE FIRST TO DISCOVER AND THE MOST COMPLEX TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF ANY OBJECT IN THE KUIPER BELT. IT HAS FIVE SATELLITES. IT HAS AN AMBIANCE. IT HAS A MOON THE SIZE OF TEXAS ORBITTING SO CLOSELY AS TO CONSTITUTE A BINARY. FOUR MINOR MOONS AND MORE TO DISCOVER. AND MAYBE EVEN RINGS. IT IS MADE OF ROCK ON THE INSIDE, BUT IT HAS AN OUTER SHELL OF ICE AND EXOTIC ICE, CARBON MONOXIDE.

IT HAS WINDS, SEASONS, PRECIPITATIONS IN THE FORM OF SNOW ON THE SURFACE. WE EVEN SEE THAT THIS ATMOSPHERE HAS DOUBLED ITS PRESSURE SINCE WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING IT. WE SEE THAT THE SNOWS HAVE CHANGED THE SURFACE APPEARANCE OF PLUTO. WE KNOW IT IS A COMPLEX WORLD. BUT IT IS NOT ALONE. AND I'M GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE KUIPER BELT IN A BIT. FIRST I WANT TO TELL YOU SOME OF THE FIRST THAT NUEVO HORIZONS IS MAKING. WE ARE THE FIRST MISSION TO THE KUIPER BELT, THE FIRST TO EXPLORE THE PLUTO SYSTEM. BUT AS YOU SEE, WE ARE FIRST IN NASA'S NEW FRONTIER PLANETARY EXPLORATION PROGRAM.

THIS IS ACTUALLY THE FIRST MISSION TO AN OUTER PLANET DIRECTED BY AN INDIVIDUAL PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR AND A TEAM. AND THERE ARE MORE FIRST ON THERE TOO. YOU CAN READ THEM. BUT I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT A LACK OF WHICH I AM VERY PROUD. THAT'S 245 WE ARE COMPLETING THE SOLAR SYSTEM RECONNAISSANCE. THEY ARE FLYING ANCHOR LEG IN A RELAY THAT BEGAN IN THE 1960S IN WHICH NASA HAS BEEN FIRST TO ALL THE PLANETS AND OPENED OUR EYES TO THE TRUE DIVERSITY OF PLANETARIUM TYPES, FROM MEDIUM-SIZED TERRESTRIALS TO MID-SIZED TERRESTRIALS. GIANTS OF THE REGION OF THE GAS GIANT KUIPER BELT.

IN FACT, THE LITTLE PLANETS ARE REPRESENTED HERE. THESE ARE REAL WORLDS IN THE KUIPER BELT. THE LARGEST MEMBERS OF THE KUIPER BEST, PLUTO. YOU CAN SEE, THESE ARE REPRESENTED AT THEIR SIZE RELATIVE TO THEIR SATELLITES WHEN THEY ARE KNOWN. ITS TRUE COLORS AND REFLECTIVITY. WHAT I WANT YOU TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT IS THE DIVERSITY OF THESE PLANETS IN THE KUIPER BELT. THIS IS SOMETHING WE DON'T UNDERSTAND. WE DON'T KNOW WHY THEY SHOULD BE SUCH A BIG VARIETY. YOU MAY THINK ALL THE ONE THAT FORM THAT FAR OUT WHEN IT'S COLD WOULD BE SIMILAR. IT'S A MYSTERY.

WITH NEW HORIZONS WE WILL BE ABLE TO EXPLORE THE FIRST IN DEPTH AND WE WILL DO IT IN LESS THAN SIX WEEKS. IF YOU CAN HAVE THE NEXT TIME. THIS IS THE SPACESHIP THAT WILL CARRY OUT THAT EXPLORATION. NEW HORIZONS IS ONLY THE SIZE OF A GRAND PIANO. A LOT OF LAUNCHING WITH FULL FUEL SUPPLY, I WEIGHED ABOUT 1,000 POUNDS. INSIDE THAT SHIP, DRAWN ON THE LEFT AND SHOWN IN AN IMAGE TAKEN AT THE CAPE PRIOR TO LAUNCH ON THE RIGHT, INSIDE THAT SHIP ARE ALL THE SYSTEMS NEEDED FOR THE JOURNEY. PROPULSION, GUIDANCE, DATA MANAGEMENT AND COMMANDS, COMMUNICATIONS.

OUTSIDE THERE ARE 9 SEVEN SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS, RADIO SCIENCE, CAMERAS, STUDENT DUST COUNTER TO BE USED TO EXPLORE THE SYSTEM. THE SEVEN INSTRUMENTS ABOARD NEW HORIZONS ARE TRULY REMARKABLE BECAUSE THEY WERE HIGHLY MINIATURIZED TO FIT ON A SMALL SPACECRAFT FOR FAST LAUNCH. THE SEVEN IN THIS PAYLOAD ARE THE MOST SOPHISTICATED AND CAPABLE BATTERY OF INSTRUMENTS SENT FOR A FIRST RECONNAISSANCE AND YET THEY WEIGHT COMBINED LESS THAN A CAMERA ON ORBITOR. AND ALL SEVEN COULD TURN THEM ON AT THE SAME TIME AND CONSUMPTION 28 WATTS. IT IS A NIGHT LIGHT. IT'S AMAZING. THE POWER OF THESE INSTRUMENTS IS ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE BEYOND WHAT WAS AVAILABLE FROM OUR TECHNOLOGY IN THE 1970S TO BUILD FOR VOYAGER.

WE WILL HAVE DATA SETS THAT WILL ONLY BE DELICIOUS. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SURFACE MAPS, COLOR MAPS, COMPOSITION MAPS. NOT ONLY FOR PLUTO BUT ALSO FOR THE SATELLITES. WE WILL SEARCH FOR NEW SATELLITES AND RINGS, THE TEMPERATURE AND STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE, SEARCH FOR THE IONOSPHERE. IF YOU CAN HAVE THE NEXT TIME. WE ALREADY KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT PLUTO BECAUSE OF WHAT I TOLD YOU AND WHAT JIM HAD TO SAY. IT'S A BINARY. AND THIS IS OUR FIRST JOURNEY TO A BINARY PLANET. WE ARE WAITING TO EXPLORE THAT. LIKE I SAID, PLUTO HAS AN ATMOSPHERE, COMPLEX SEASONS AND MANY ATTRIBUTES, ALL THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE CLOSEST PLANETS.

AND THE GREAT MOON CHARONTE COULD QUALIFY ITSELF. IT IS MADE OF ROCK AND ICE. LET'S SEARCH TO SEE IF HE HAS ONE. OR IF IT DRAWS MATERIAL FROM PLUTO'S ATMOSPHERE INTO AN ORBIT AROUND ITSELF. WE THINK THIS IS PRETTY GOOD SURROUNDING EVIDENCE THAT CHARON MAY BE ACTIVE, GEOLOGICALLY ACTIVE TODAY, FROM SOME OF THE CHEMICAL CLUES WE HAVE SEEN IN THE SPECK MY TRAFFIC. WE WILL LOOK FOR MORE STORIES IN TERMS OF YOUR CRATERING RECORD, FOR EXAMPLE YOUR GEOLOGY, NISMO TEXT, SLURRIES OR OTHER THINGS. SOME GEOPHYSICAL MODELS PREDICT THAT CHARON MAY HAVE AN OCEAN IN ITS INTERIOR.

HOW IS THAT FOR WILD? NEXT VIEW. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PHOTOS. IT IS THE BEST IMAGE OF PLUTO THAT HAS BEEN MADE FROM EARTH. IT'S MADE WITH THE BIGGEST AND BADEST GUN WE HAVE, THE HUBBELL TELESCOPE. 3000 MILES AWAY IS NOT FAR, BECAUSE PLUTO IS SO FAR AWAY. LET ME CHECK IF I CAN GET THE NEXT TIME I STEP HERE. THIS IS THE NEXT IMAGE WE WILL HAVE OF PLUTO IN A FEW WEEKS. THESE ARE IMAGES OF EARTH IN COMPARABLE RESOLUTIONS TO WHICH WE WILL DELIVER THE NEW HORIZONS ON PLUTO. THE EARTH HAS NOT BEEN PIXELATED.

A BEAUTIFUL VIEW OF THE LAND. THAT IS APPROXIMATELY WE WILL HAVE ONE DAY BEFORE ARRIVING AT THE CLOSEST APPROACH. OUR PICTURES WILL BE AS GOOD AS THIS PICTURE OF NEW YORK CITY. I REALIZE THAT ON THE TELEVISION CAMERA IT IS POSSIBLE THAT YOU CANNOT SEE EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN SEE IN THE LIVING ROOM. BUT THAT IS MANHATTAN ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE WITH HUDSON ON THE LEFT AND EAST RIVER ON THE RIGHT. YOU CAN SEE BY LOOKING AT OUR SCREEN, CENTRAL PARK. IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY YOU CAN SEE THE PONDS IN CENTRAL PARK. THAT'S JUST WHAT WE WILL DO IN TERMS OF THE SIMPLE PICTURE.

WHEN WE ADD THE THERMAL MASS, ALLOWING US TO REBUILD THE TOPOGRAPHY, ALL THE STUDIES OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND ALL THE ELSE THINGS WE ARE GOING TO DO, WE WILL WRITE THE TEXTBOOK OVERNIGHT AND BRING YOU FOR THE RIDE. NOT JUST ON NASA TV BUT WITH SOCIAL MEDIA, WITH WEBSITES, WITH INSTANT IMAGE RELEASES, NEXT DAY IMAGE RELEASES. AND WE WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ON THE WAY. WE ARE BASICALLY DOING ONE OF THE HISTORICAL MISSIONS FROM THE 60'S OR 70'S WITH 2nd CENTURY MEDIA SENSITIVITY. WE CAN'T WAIT TO TAKE YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND I WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.

ALL GOOD. FOR THOSE WHO ARE STILL ONLINE AT HOME, ASK FOR THE NASA HASHTAG. JONATHAN ASKS, WHAT DOES THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MOON IMPLICATE FOR POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS DEBRIS IN THE PATH OF NEW HORIZONS? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW, WE ARE BEING VERY CAREFUL. WE KNOW THAT THE SMALLER SATELLITES OF PLUTO HAVE SO LOW GRAVITY THAT WHEN THEY ARE WRONG, THE MATERIAL THAT COMES OUT IS PUT INTO ORBIT AROUND PLUTO. BECAUSE OUR SHIP MOVES VERY FAST. EVEN THE IMPACT OF A PEBBLE THE SIZE OF A RICE LOSS OR A PIECE OF THOSE MOONS CAN CAUSE GREAT DAMAGE.

SO WE ARE RUNNING A ROAD HAZARD WATCH. WE HAVE NOT FOUND ANYTHING WORRYING YET. THE BEST MODELS INDICATE THAT WE WILL PROBABLY NEVER DO IT. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE ANY RISK. SO WE PREPARE BACKUP PLANS. AND I THINK WHAT THE QUESTIONER ASKS ABOUT THE NEW DISCOVERY JUST ANNOUNCED FROM THE HUBBELL SPACE TELESCOPE, THAT THE MOONS ARE ORBITING CHAOTICALLY. IT IS A VERY GOOD AND VERY CURRENT QUESTION. WONDERFUL. DO WE HAVE A QUESTION IN THE ROOM? ALRIGHT. WAIT FOR THE MICROPHONE. HELLO. YEAH. I WAS WONDERING WHAT INSTRUMENTS DO YOU USE ON THE SHIP TO TEST THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION ON PLUTO AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

WE HAVESPECTROMETERS. IT BREAKS UP THE LIGHT IN THE ULTRA VIE LOT BAND SO WE CAN SEE GLOWING ATOMS AND MOLECULES FROM THEIR INTERACTION WITH SUNLIGHT. THAT ALLOWS US FINGERPRINTS OF THE COMPOSITION OF PLUTO'S ATMOSPHERE. IT WILL ALLOW US TO DETERMINE THE DENSITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE AS A FUNCTION OF THE ALTITUDE. WE ALSO HAVE AN INFRARED SPECTROMETER ON BOARD. IT BREAKS LIGHT INTO ITS INDIVIDUAL WAVELENGTHS, BUT IT IS USED TO STUDY THE SURFACES OF THE WORLD AND ITS COMPETITION. ULTRA VIOLET IS CALLED ALICIA. HIS HONEYMOON IS RALPH. RALPH IS THE INFRARED SPECTROMETER. THANK YOU. WONDERFUL. OUR NEXT QUESTION WILL COME FROM LOWELL.

HELLO. ENZO. THE DOCTOR INFORMED ME THAT THERE IS NO MAGNOTOMETER. WILL THERE BE ENOUGH FOR A FOLLOW-UP MISSION? A LITTLE BACKGROUND FOR EVERYONE ELSE. THEY ARE THE TWO INSTRUMENTS THAT STUDY CHARGED PARTICLES, PLASMA. ACTUALLY, THEY HAVE BEEN USED TO STUDY THE SAME THINGS THROUGHOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM SINCE WE HAVE TRANSECTED UP TO THE KUIPER BELT. PEPSI AND SWAP ARE MAINLY TO STUDY GASES LEAVING PLUTO'S ATMOSPHERE AND ESCAPING INTO THE ATMOSPHERE TO DETERMINE THEIR ESCAPE RATE. FURTHERMORE, SOME OF THE SIGNATURES THEY CAN DETECT MAY REVEAL WHETHER PLUTO HAS A STRONG MAGNETIC FIELD OR NOT. ACCORDING TO STANDARD THEORY, SMALL WORLDS, SMALL PLANETS, AND ASTEROIDS TYPICALLY DO NOT HAVE STRONG MAGNETIC FIELDS.

WE HAD TO MAKE A LOT OF DECISIONS TO ACHIEVE A MISSION TO PLUTO SO WE DON'T TAKE EVERYTHING YOU THINK OF. MAGNOTOMETER, WE LEFT IT OUT OF THE PAYLOAD. IF PLUTO HAS A STRONG MAGNETIC SIGNATURE, THAT WILL NOT ONLY SURPRISE GEOPHYSICISTS, BUT IT WILL BE KNOWN IN THE PEPSI AND SWAP DATA. OUR TEAM IS CALLED PARTICLES IN PLASMA, PART OF THE SCIENTIFIC TEAM, IS VERY ANXIOUS TO SEE THE DATA FROM THE CLOSEST ONE TO SEE IF IT SURPRISES THEM. ALL GOOD. THE NEXT QUESTION COMES FROM HERE IN THE ROOM. HELLO. THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS.

SO TODAY WE LEARNED THAT DATA FROM EARTH TO THE NEW HORIZONS WILL TAKE ABOUT FOUR AND A HALF HOURS. AND THEN IT WILL BE ANOTHER FOUR AND A HALF HOURS BEFORE HE RETURNS. I WANT TO KNOW IF YOU HAD ANY PLAN FOR THAT NINE HOUR WINDOW? MAYBE SOME GOLF OR MAYBE A NICE SHOW OR A BOOK? IT WILL BE A TIME. YES. LET ME TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE CLOSEST APPROACH. WE DESIGN NEW HORIZONS TO BE EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE WHEN YOU ARE THERE. WE HAVE VERY FAST SPEEDS ON THE SPACESHIP. WE CAN TAKE DATA FROM UP TO FIVE INSTRUMENTS AT A TIME.

WE HAVE SOLID STRAIGHT MEMORY FOR SPACESHIP MEMORIES. WE TAKE 100 TIMES MORE CLOSE DATA THAN WE CAN SEND IN A SINGLE DAY. SO THE NEW HORIZONS WILL BE THE GIFT THAT CONTINUES TO GIVE LONG AFTER WE PASS THE PLUTO SYSTEM, NO IMAGES WILL REACH THE GROUND FOR THE SCIENCE TEAM AND FOR ALL OF YOU, FOR EVERYONE. NOW, AS WE MAKE OUR JOURNEY THROUGH THE CLOSEST APPROACH, WE HAVE A CHOICE THAT WE MADE A LONG TIME AGO, WHICH IS TO EITHER TAKE ALL THE DATA POSSIBLE OR WE CAN TALK TO THE EARTH. WE TOLD THEM TO TAKE ALL THE DATA POSSIBLE.

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

ALL GOOD. MARVELOUS. OUR NEXT QUESTION COMES FROM LOWELL. HELLO. THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTION. THIS IS MICHAEL KAISER FROM NASA SOCIAL IN LOWELL. MY QUESTION IS A FOLLOW-UP TO THE SPECTROMETER. WILL WE BE ABLE TO DETERMINE THE COMPLETE COMPOSITION OF CHEMICALS AND A PROPORTION OF THOSE MOLECULES? I'M JUST WONDERING ABOUT THE RESOLUTION OF THE SPECTROMETERS. THE RESOLUTION ABOVE THE ENTIRE BAND PASS FROM 1.25 TO 2.5 MICRONS IS 250. WE HAVE A HIGH RESOLUTION SEGMENT WITH APPROXIMATELY DOUBLE THAT RESOLUTION. RESOLUTION SPECTRUM OF ABOUT 500. INCLUDES THE DENSITY OF EACH SPECIES THAT WE CAN DETECT. THERE IS A VERY WIDE RANGE OF HYDROCARBONS AND NITROGEN CONTAINERS THAT WE CAN DETECT.

WE WILL BE ATTENTION TO THEM. WE ARE ABLE TO DETECT INDIVIDUAL ATOMIC SPECIES HIGH IN THE ATMOSPHERE, SUCH AS HYDROGEN, WHICH WE THINK IS PREVAILING IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE OF PLUTO AND MISTS AND CLOUDS, BOTH IN CAMERAS AND SPECTROMETERS. IT IS A FAIRLY COMPLETE INVESTIGATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE. AGAIN, WE ARE TAKING QUESTIONS ONLINE #ASKNASA. THIS IS PROFESSOR ABLE MENDEZ ASKS, WHAT IS THE ESTIMATE OF THE TOTAL ATMOSPHERE ON PLUTO? IT IS DETERMINED FROM TERRESTRIAL STUDIES THAT OBSERVE THE VERY OCCASIONAL DISAPPEARANCE OF THE STAR BEHIND PLUTO AND ITS REAPPEARANCE. BY GRAPTING THE RATE AT WHICH IT DECREASES DUE TO ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTION, WE CAN DETERMINE THE HEIGHT OF THE SCALE AND THE PRESSURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

WHAT WE DO NOT KNOW IS IF WE SINK TO THE LOWER LEVEL OF THE ATMOSPHERE. SO WE HAVE A LOWER BOUND OF AROUND 10 MICROPARSE. BUT THE AT MOOSE SEVERE MAY BE DEEPER THAN WE CAN PLUMB FROM GROUND. THE NEW HORIZONS WILL DETERMINE IT. THE PRESSURE MAY BE 5 OR 10 TIMES HIGHER, 50 OR 100 MICROBARS. THAT IS THE EXTENT OF OUR UNCERTAINTY. THERE WILL BE NO UNCERTAINTY AFTER JULY. WE WILL TELL YOU THE ANSWER. ALL GOOD. ANOTHER QUESTION IN THE ROOM. HELLO DOCTOR. EMILY, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT MORRIS TECH IN NEW JERSEY. FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO SAY THAT I APPRECIATE BASTILLE DAY.

IN A WAY THIS IS REVOLUTIONARY. THE DIRECTOR SAID THAT MISSIONS IN OUTER SPACE HELP US LEARN MORE ABOUT EARTH. SO IS IT MORE THAN WE LEARN ABOUT WHAT HUMAN PROGRESS AND POTENTIAL CAN DO, EITHER WE CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT EARTH OR IS IT THE SUBSEQUENT MISSIONS WE WILL HAVE AFTER THIS FIRST ONE HAPPENS, IF THAT MAKES SENSE. I'M VERY GLAD THAT YOU ASK THAT QUESTION. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT QUESTION. WE CAN KNOW THE ORIGIN OF THE EARTH IN THREE DIFFERENT WAYS. THE FIRST IS BY STUDYING THE PLUTO SYSTEM ITSELF THROUGH THE STUDY OF SMALL PLANETS. WE CAN LEARN ABOUT HOW THE BUILDING BLOCKS THAT WERE CLUMBED POTATOES AND PLANETECIMALS BUILT SMALL PLANETS FROM WHICH LARGER PLANETS EXISTED.

AND NEVER BEFORE STUDIED ANY PLANET LIKE PLUTO. THAT IS THE FIRST WAY. THE SECOND IS THAT THE ORIGIN OF THE PLUTO SATELLITE SYSTEM IS STRONGLY BELIEVED TO BE THE SAME ORIGIN MECHANISM, A GIANT COLLISION THAT GENERATED MATERIAL OUTSIDE PLUTO WHERE IT FORMED THE EARTH-MOON SYSTEM. IT IS THE ONLY KNOWN EXAMPLE IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM OF AN EARTH-MOON FORMATION MECHANISM OF ITS SATELLITE. SO IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE PLANETARY SCIENCES TO HAVE THAT SECOND EXAMPLE. AND WE HAVE LEARNED THAT PART OF THE MOTIVATION FOR GOING TO THE PLUTO SYSTEM WAS TO STUDY THE ORIGIN OF ITS GREAT MOON CHARON.

THERE IS ALSO A THIRD WAY. THE ATMOSPHERE IS LEAKING QUICKLY. IN PART BECAUSE PLUTO IS A SMALL PLANET. AND PARTLY BECAUSE THERE IS A HEATING MECHANISM THAT ADDES ENERGY TO THE MOLECULES. AND THE RATE OF ESCAPE FROM PLUTO'S ATMOSPHERE, ESCAPE MECHANISM, IS HYDRODYNAMIC ESCAPE, WHICH IS A FANCY TERM. BUT ALL THAT REALLY MEANS IS THAT THE EXHAUST RATE IS MUCH HIGHER THAN NORMAL. IT IS BECAUSE OF THAT HIGH TEMPERATURE. AND THE SAME HAPPENED ON EARTH IMMEDIATELY AFTER FORMING THE EARTH, WHICH WAS STILL MOLTEN. IT WAS EXHAUSTED HYDRODYNAMICALLY. ORIGINALLY, THE EARTH WAS MADE OF HYDROGEN AND HELIUM.

THAT'S ALL GONE NOW. THAT IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH IT CAME OUT, HYDRODYNAMIC EXHAUST. IT HAS BEEN DISCOVERED BY THEORISTS ON BLACKBOARDS AND MODELED ON COMPUTERS, BUT IT HAS NEVER BEEN OBSERVED ON A PLANETARY SCALE. PLUTO IS THE FIRST PLACE WE CAN GO TO STUDY A PROCESS TO REFORM EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE FROM A POISONOUS ENVELOPE TO THE ATMOSPHERE WE ENJOY TODAY. SO THIS IS ANOTHER CONNECTION. THANK YOU. OUR NEXT QUESTION FROM THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY. HELLO. HELLO MY NAME IS CASEY. WHEN MIGHT WE SEE AN ORBITAL MISSION OR A ROVER MISSION OR SOME KIND OF LANDING AND WHAT COULD WE LEARN MORE FROM THIS IN CONTRAST TO JUST A FLYBY MISSION?

IT'S HARD TO PREDICT SOMETHING LIKE THIS. IF PLUTO IS AS INTERESTING AS WE EXPECT, I THINK THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY WILL WANT TO COME BACK AND DO MORE STUDIES. ORBITER OR LANDER IS A BEAUTIFUL MISSION TO FLY BELOW. OF COURSE TO MAKE THE CASE FOR THAT AND BUILD THE MISSION AND GET IT FLYING IS PROBABLY A COUPLE OF DECK 80s. MAYBE THAT'S BY 2030 AFTER WE FLY TO EUROPE AND LEARN ABOUT THAT AND THE UPCOMING MARS ROVERS. IT DEPENDS ON THE RESULTS AND HOW EXCITING THE NEW HORIZONS ARE. THAT IS THE KIND OF THING I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT A LITTLE LATER.

BECAUSE WE ARE FOCUSED ON THE FIRST RECOGNITION FOR NOW. THE QUESTION CAME TO ASK NASA HERE TO TWITTER USERS WHO ASKED WHAT WILL BE THE NEXT OBJECT TO VISIT NEW HORIZONS AFTER PLUTO? WELL, AFTER PLUTO, AS REQUESTED BY THE DECAYEDAL SURVEY, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO FURTHER AND STUDY THE BUILDING BLOCKS THAT DWARF PLANETS LIKE SECOND THAT, MACKEY, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED TWO POTENTIAL TARGETS WITHIN OUR FUEL SUPPLY TO OUR SCOPE . BOTH FLY-BYES WILL HAPPEN IN 2019. WE CAN GO ONE OR THE OTHER BUT THEY ARE IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. SO WE HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM. AND WE WILL DO IT IN AUGUST.

FOR THIS MISSION TO COMPLETE, FOR IT TO REALLY BE DONE, WE HAVE TO WRITE A PROPOSAL, LIKE EVERY EXTENDED MISSION TO NASA. THAT WILL BE PEER REVIEWED. IF IT IS PROPERLY REVIEWED, NASA HEADQUARTERS WILL FUND THAT MISSION UNTIL 2019 OR 2020 TO CAPTURE THE DATA AND BRING IT ALL BACK TO EARTH. WE ARE VERY MUCH WAITING TO WRITE THIS PROPOSAL. WE THINK IT'S EXCITING. TRAVELING ANOTHER BILLION MILES AND EXPLORING THE PRISTIC OBJECTS FROM WHICH LITTLE PLANETS WERE MADE IS AN UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY THAT NO OTHER MISSION ON THE DRAWING BOARDS OR IN FLIGHT CAN ACHIEVE. THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THE NEW HORIZONS CAN CONTRIBUTE IN A UNIQUE WAY.

AND THEREFORE, WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROPOSE THAT. ALL GOOD. ANOTHER QUESTION HERE IN THE ROOM. HELLO DOCTOR. THEN THOSE TWO OBJECTS, WHAT WILL BE YOUR CRITERIA TO CHOOSE WHICH ONE TO CHOOSE OBJECTIVE? ANOTHER GOOD QUESTION. THERE ARE ALL THE CRITERIA WE ARE LOOKING AT. THEY HAVE TO DO WITH HOW MUCH FUEL WE HAVE AND HOW EXCITING THE SCIENCE IS. MORE FUEL IS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE. IT TAKES ALMOST OUR ENTIRE FUEL SUPPLY JUST TO BE POINTED IN YOUR DIRECTION FOR INTERCEPTION. THE OTHER CONSUMES ABOUT HALF OF OUR FUEL SUPPLY, LEAVING MUCH MORE FOR ACTUAL SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS WHEN WE ARE THERE.

WE ARE OBSERVING OUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE, HOW MUCH POWER WE WILL HAVE YEARS LATER. YOU HAVE HEARD ABOUT RADIOACTIVE HALF-LIFE DECAY THAT DECREASES EVERY YEAR, ILLUMINATION LEVELS, ESTIMATED SIZES OF OBJECTS. AND ALSO ITS PROMINENCE OR ITS ORIGIN. IT TURNS OUT THAT BOTH OBJECTS COME FROM AN OLD COLD CLASSICAL KUIPER BELT OBJECT THAT ACTUALLY FORMED IN THE SAME REGION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. NOT TRANSPORTED TO THE KUIPER BELT BUT FORMED THERE. SO THEY REALLY TELL US ABOUT THE CONDITIONS THERE IN THE BEGINNING. THEN ALL THOSE FACTORS GO INTO THE MIX. AND THE TEAM WILL MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO NASA LATER THIS SUMMER.

AND THEN IN THE FALL WE NEED TO START THE ENGINES. BECAUSE THE LONGER WE WAIT, THE MORE AND MORE FUEL IS NEEDED. EVEN IF YOU WAIT UNTIL THE END OF 2016, JUST A YEAR LATER, BOTH MISSIONS WOULD TAKE MORE FUEL THAN WE HAVE ON BOARD. THANK YOU. DR. QUESTION FROM DR. STERN COMES FROM LOWELL OBSERVATORY. LOWELL HAS NO FURTHER QUESTIONS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS. THANK YOU. DEFINITELY. . SO YOU HEARD A LITTLE ABOUT THE SCIENCE OF WHAT NEW HORIZONS IS GOING TO DO. BUT THAT WOULD NOT HAPPEN WITHOUT THE HARDWARE.

WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE ACTUAL SPACESHIP AND WHAT'S ON BOARD AND EVERYTHING. HERE IS CHRIS HERSMAN, MISSIONS SYSTEMS ENGINEER HERE AT THE OBSERVATORY. THANKS, JASON. DEFINITELY. THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART OF THE MISSION. UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS OUR JOB TO TAKE THOSE INSTRUMENTS TO PLUTO AND TAKE ALL THOSE OBSERVATIONS. SO I AM INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT. I WAS THE SYSTEMS ENGINEER OF THE SPACECRAFT WHEN WE BUILT IT AND PROMOTED TO MISSION SYSTEMS ENGINEER AFTER LAUNCH. AND I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE TOUR AROUND THE SPACESHIP. YOU'VE ALREADY HEARD A LOT ABOUT INSTRUMENTS. JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE ON SIZE.

I ALWAYS USE MY ARMS. I STRETCH OUT MY ARMS AND SAY THE ANTENNA IS A LITTLE LONGER THAN YOU CAN REACH. IT IS APPROXIMATELY 80 INCHES. AND THE WHOLE SHIP IS LIKE A GRAND PIANO. AT THIS END OF THE SPACECRAFT, THIS IS ALL HANGING OUT HERE. YOU MIGHT SAY, WELL, WHY IS THAT? THERE ARE A COUPLE OF REASONS FOR THAT. PROVIDES BALANCE FOR SPIN MODE. I HAVE BROUGHT A LITTLE PROP HERE TO DESCRIB THAT. IT WAS VERY EXPENSIVE TO MAKE. SO THEY WOULDN'T LET ME THROW THE MODELS AWAY. BUT BY BALANCING THE RTG, THE POWER SOURCE, ONLY ON THE END AND ALL THE INSTRUMENTS ON THE OTHER SIDE, YOU WILL GET SOMETHING THAT WILL ROTATE.

AND THEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE PROPELLERS TO KEEP THE SPACESHIP AIMED AT EARTH. SO IF YOU ALL WERE THE EARTH AND IT'S SPINNING LIKE THIS KEEP THE HIGH GAIN ANTENNA POINTED AT THE EARTH WITHOUT BURNING ANY FUEL. THAT'S THE WAY WE GO TO PLUTO WITHOUT HAVING MUCH ADDITIONAL FUEL ON BOARD TO MAINTAIN THEAIMED SPACESHIP. WHEN WE ARE IN A THREE-AXIS MODE, WHICH IS WHAT WE ARE DOING ON PLUTO, THE THRUSTS ARE SCATTERED AROUND THE SPACECRAFT AND PRECISELY POSITIONED SO IT CAN MANEUVER ANY WAY. TO POINT AT THE GROUND IN OUR THREE-AXIS MODE YOU HAVE TO PUSH BACK AND REAR TO KEEP THE HIGH GAIN ANTENNA FOCUSED ON THE GROUND.

USES FUEL, PROPELLER CYCLES. THOSE ARE CONSUMABLES ON THE SPACESHIP. SO I'M GOING TO MOVE TO THE FIRST INSTRUMENT WE WILL TALK ABOUT, WHICH IS ALICE. THIS IS THE ULTRAVIOLET. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT HOW IT IS OWNED. THERE IS AN OPENING THAT POINTS IN THIS DIRECTION, WHICH GIVES YOU THE CONCEALMENT MEASUREMENT, SIMULTANEOUS WITH THE RADIO SCIENCE EXPERIMENT. SO IT IS TURNING TOWARDS EARTH AT THE SAME TIME AS ALICE POINTS TOWARDS THE SUN. BOTH MEASURE AS THEY CROSS THE ATMOSPHERE AND TAKE MEASUREMENTS ALONG THE PATH. AS YOU HAVE HEARD BEFORE ABOUT AIR BRIGHTNESS, THIS IS WHERE MEASUREMENTS ARE TAKEN WHERE YOU ARE LOOKING AT PLUTO.

AND IT'S MUCH MORE SENSITIVE. THE SOLAR OCCULTATION LOOK AT THE SUN. THE AIRFLOW OPENING LOOKS AT PLUTO. AND THE RALPH INSTRUMENT, WHICH IS THE INVISIBLE INFRARED CAMERA ON THE SPACESHIP. YOU WILL NOTICE THE LARGE WHITE AREA IS THE RADIATOR. IT IS TO KEEP THE INFRARED PART OF THE INSTRUMENT VERY COLD. IT IS DOUBLE RADIATOR. THE SPACESHIP IS VERY HOT INSIDE. WELL, IT IS THE TEMPERATURE OF THE ROOM, WHICH IN THE SPACE IS VERY WARM. AND THIS INSTRUMENT IS VERY COLD. AND THEN WHAT THEY DO IS THEY HAVE TWO RADIATORS TO KEEP THIS VERY COLD AND THIS KEEPS IT INSULATED EVEN MORE.

AND THEN THERE IS A POWER SUPPLY THAT ENTERS THERE AND IS CONNECTED TO THE ELECTRONICS WHICH IS THE INSTRUMENT DETECTOR. SO WHEN YOU TAKE INFRARED IMAGES YOU CAN GET LESS NOISE IN THE INSTRUMENT. WE WILL NOW MOVE TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SHIP AND YOU WILL SEE THE THERMO GENERATOR. IT IS BLACK. IT IS ALSO VERY HOT INSIDE. AND THE HEAT INSIDE AND THE COLD OUTSIDE IN SPACE ALLOWS US TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY FROM THAT TEMPERATURE DIFFERENTIAL. AND IT ONLY GENERATES 200 WATTS WHEN WE ARE ON PLUTO. IT GENERATES MUCH MORE HEAT. SO WE REALLY SAVE SOME OF THE ELECTRICAL ENERGY BY PUTTING A LITTLE HOLE AT THE END OF HERE INSIDE THE SPACESHIP.

AND WE RECOVER SOME OF THAT HEAT AND PUT IT BACK TO THE SPACECRAFT TO KEEP IT WARM. AND THERE WERE A LOT OF CALCULATIONS IN THE DESIGN OF HOW BIG THAT HOLE SHOULD BE. AND WE REALLY TESTED IT HERE ON EARTH WHEN WE RELEASED IT. ONCE WE GET THE HEAT THAT WE REALLY WANT TO KEEP IN THE SPACESHIP, WE WANT TO REJECT ALL THE OTHER HEAT WHICH IS WHAT THIS LITTLE SHIELD IS FOR. IT KEEPS ALL THE HEAT AWAY FROM THE OTHER INSTRUMENTS BECAUSE THEY WANT†-- THEY DON'T WANT TO BE DISTURBED BY THAT HEAT. AND THEN YOU'LL NOTICE HERE A PYRAMID SHAPE, WHICH WE WERE ABLE TO ADJUST THE LAYOUT TO HELP BALANCE THE SPACECRAFT.

AND IN DEVELOPMENT WE REALLY CHANGED THAT A LITTLE BIT. NOT PHYSICALLY, BUT IN THE DESIGN PHASE, TO HELP BALANCE ONCE WE FIND OUT WHERE ALL THESE THINGS WOULD BE ON THE SPACECRAFT. SO NOW WE WILL GO UP TO THE HIGH GAIN ANTENNA. WE WILL SEE THERE WERE A LOT†-- THIS IS THE HIGH GAIN ANTENNA MOUNT. THERE WERE A LOT OF ANTENNAS HERE. A LOW GAIN ANTENNA WAS USED AT THE LAUNCH BECAUSE IT CAN SEE ONE HEMISPHERE OF EARTH OR WHEREVER IT IS POINTED. AND THEN THERE IS ANOTHER SAME AT THE BOTTOM. IF THE SPACESHIP CLEARS AND IS A POINT OF TRUTH IN AN ODD DIRECTION, WE CAN TALK TO THE SPACESHIP.

NOW IT IS SO FAR AWAY THAT THEY ARE USELESS. WE NO LONGER USE THEM. WE HAVE ONE FOR OUR BEACON MODE. WHEN WE ARE IN ROTARY MODE AND NOT POINTED DIRECTLY AT EARTH, WE CAN USE THIS TO TELL US THE SHIP IS OKAY. WE POINT IT IN A SPECIFIC DIRECTION WHERE THE FUTURE OF THE EARTH WILL BE IN THE CENTER OF THE ANTENNA. WE CAN TALK TO HIM ONCE A WEEK†--ACTUALLY, WE CAN LISTEN TO HIM ONCE A WEEK AND THE SHIP WILL SAY EVERYTHING IS OK AND I'M DOING WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO. AND THEN THE TEN OF HIGH GAIN WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR RADIO SCIENCE.

THEY BOUNCE OFF THIS BIG DISH AND REFLECT OFF THE BACK OF THIS ANTENNA AND GO INTO THE ANTENNA FEED. AND THAT ALLOWED US TO COMBINATE THIS AND THAT ALLOWED US TO TRAIN PEOPLE. SO IT'S NOT JUST A ROUND BEAM. IT ACTUALLY HAS A SHAPE THAT GIVES IT A KIND OF A FLAT SURFACE FOR THE ANTENNA GAIN. GIVES US OUR HIGH GAIN WIDTH. HELP SAVE ON THE USE OF THE PROPELLER. NOW THE NEXT SET OF INSTRUMENTS FROM THE OTHER SIDE. THIS IS THE PLUTO SOLAR WIND EXCHANGE EXPERIMENT. YOU CAN SEE THE LAUNCH DOORS ARE UNFOLD. IT HAS A LARGE FAN-TYPE FIELD OF VISION.

ALL THE ROAD AROUND YOU CAN RECEIVE SIGNALS. AND THE BENEFIT OF THAT IS THAT WHILE ALL THE CAMERAS ARE POINTING AROUND AND LOOKING, THIS IS STILL ABLE TO TAKE ITS MEASUREMENTS BECAUSE IT HAS SUCH A WILD FIELD OF VIEW IN THIS PLANE. THE SAME IF WE GO UP TO THE PEPSI INSTRUMENTS IT HAS A FAN BEAM ANTENNA, WHICH YOU CAN SEE ABOVE HERE. AND I THINK IT WILL BE OUT SOON. YOU CAN SEE THE FAN BEAM OF THE ENERGY PARTICLE INSTRUMENT, PEPSI. AND THEN THERE IS ALSO THIS HERE TO PROTECT THE SOLAR INFLUENCE. IT WAS ACTUALLY THE SHIELD INTERACTING WITH THE HIGH GAIN ANTENNA DUE TO WHERE IT IS PLACED.

AND NOW THE LONG RANGE IMAGES, IS THE LARGEST APERTURE. THIS IS ABOUT ONE METER OR ABOUT ONE YARD. THAT IS WHAT WE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WITH THE IMAGES AND FOR NAVIGATION. WE WILL TAKE PICTURES OF PLUTO AND THE STARS IN THE BACKGROUND AND FIND OUT BETTER THAN WE CAN ON THE GROUND. THEN WE ACTUALLY TIMING THE COMMANDS THAT WILL TAKE ALL THE OBSERVATIONS SO THEY ARE IN SYNC WITH WHERE THE SHIP IS. WE WILL ALSO SEND AN INTEMPERATOR SO THAT EVERYTHING IS PER PASS THE WAY WE PLANNED. YOU CAN ALSO SEE THE STAR TRACKERS. THESE ARE USED FOR THE ATTITUDE TO DETERMINE WHERE THE ATTITUDE IS.

AND THERE ARE TWO OF THEM FOR REDUNDANCY. WE ONLY NEED ONE, BUT WE PUT TWO ON BOARD. WE HAVE OUR AUTONOMY SYSTEM, WHICH WILL CHANGE FROM ONE TO ANOTHER IF ONE DOES NOT WORK. THAT IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF A SPACESHIP THAT IS GOING TO BE NINE HOURS AWAY. IF WE WANTED TO TELL YOU TO DO SOMETHING, WE WON'T KNOW IF YOU DID IT UNTIL 9 AM WHEN WE RECEIVED THE MESSAGE. SO YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND WHAT YOU'RE DOING. CONSULT TELEMETRY AND INFORM YOU. THEN WE WILL GO UP TO THE SUN SENSOR. WE HAVE A SPACESHIP MODE THAT SAYS I AM†-- I KNOW NOTHING.

I'M LOST IN SPACE. I'M GOING TO POINT THE SUN BECAUSE THE SUN, WHICH IS SO FAR AWAY FROM PLUTO, IS VERY CLOSE TO EARTH. IF WE POINT THE SUN, THE EARTH WILL BE ABLE TO TALK TO THE SHIP. IT IS NOT REALLY BECAUSE WE NEED THE SUN'S ENERGY BUT BECAUSE WE WANT TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE EARTH. SO IT'S QUITE THE TOUR. AND I THINK†-- YES. THAT'S ALL. SO IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SPACESHIP? THE FIRST QUESTION IN THE ROOM. UP HERE. COULD YOU TALK A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE PROPELLERS AND CHANGING FROM TURN MODES TO THREE-AXIS AND SO MUCH?

SAFE. I could use the models I guess. LET ME DO THIS. BECAUSE I ALWAYS LIKE IT†-- I THINK THIS WILL COME OUT OF HERE. ACTUALLY, WE CAN ALSO SEE THE BACKGROUND. BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE PROP TANK IS. THERE ARE SOME DOWN HERE ON THE BOTTOM AND SOME ON THE SIDE. WHAT THEY DO IS SHOOT IN PAIRS. IF WE WANTED TO TWIST LIKE THIS, WE WOULD SHOOT ONE HERE AND THEN ONE HERE. AND THEN†-- THEY ARE POINTED IN GENERAL†-- LET'S SEE. SO AND SO, ABOVE AND BELOW. AND THEN THIS WAY AND THIS WAY TO THE SIDES.

SO THOSE ON THE SIDES, TILT IT SO. AND THOSE WHO ARE ABOVE AND BELOW GO HERE AND HERE. SO YOU GET CONTROL OF THREE AXES. SO WHEN WE WANT TO SPIN, WE TURN ON THE PROPELLERS AND SPIN AT 5 RPM. BECAUSE IT'S QUITE STABLE†-- IT'S A TRADE-OFF BETWEEN†-- THERE ARE ALWAYS TRADE-OFFS. TAKE FULL TO SPIN. THE MUCH YOU TURN FAVORITE, THE MORE STABLE YOU ARE. WE PROBABLY COULD HAVE GOED SLOWER BUT WE BUDGETED FOR 5 RPM. ONCE YOU BUDGET EVERYTHING, YOU DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE ANYTHING. THERE ARE TWO PROPELLERS POINTING DOWN FROM THE BOTTOM. THOSE ARE THE ONES WE DO TO USE THE AFTER PLUTO MANEUVER WHEN WE GO TO THE KUIPER BELT.

THEY ARE LIKE FIVE TIMES LARGER. AND THEN WHEN WE DO THAT, WE ALSO USE THE OTHER PROPELLERS TO CONTROL THE TIP WHILE WE'RE PUSHING. ANOTHER GOOD THING, WE ONLY USE TWO PROPELLERS AT A TIME. PROPELLERS TAKE A LOT OF ENERGY. WE WANT TO STAY BELOW THOSE 200 WATTS OF POWER. SO WE ONLY OPERATE TWO PROPELLERS AT A TIME, EXCEPT WHEN WE DO A DELTA V, AND THEN WE CAN DO 4. HYDROZINE. THE NEXT QUESTION COMES FROM THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY. LOWELL? HOW DOES THE USE OF RTG ON NEW HORIZONS CHANGE THE ATTITUDE, POLITICAL OR OTHERWISE, TO USING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL FOR POWER SYSTEMS, FOR DEEP SPACE MISSIONS?

THAT WOULD BE ONE MORE QUESTION FROM THE PENTHOUSE OF THE PROGRAM. THERE WASN'T A LOT OF RESISTANCE FOR NEW HORIZONS BECAUSE IT WAS A DIRECT LAUNCH INTO SPACE. SO THERE WAS NO OVERFLIGHT. HE HAD NO OTHER RADIOISOTOPE HEATER UNITS. THEREFORE, THE SAFETY ANALYSIS WAS VERY SIMPLE AND SIMPLE. AND WE MADE A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO DO THAT BECAUSE WE WERE ON A SHORT SCHEDULE. THIS IS HOW WE LAUNCHED A POWER SOURCE THAT HAD ALREADY FLOWN, ALREADY IN THIS CONFIGURATION SIMILAR TO ULYSSES. I THINK WE WILL HAVE TO SURVEY THE AUDIENCE OR THE PUBLIC TO SEE HOW THEIR PERCEPTION HAS CHANGED.

BUT I NEVER HAD ANY CONCERNS ABOUT LAUNCHING THE POWER SOURCE. WONDERFUL. JUST A REMINDER WE ARE ANSWERING QUESTIONS USING #ASKNASA. HOW LONG WOULD THE NEW HORIZONS LAST IN SPACE? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. AND IT DEPENDS ON WHAT CAN GO WRONG FIRST. OR IF THINGS GO WELL. THERE ARE THINGS YOU CAN DO THAT ASSUME MORE RISK. AS YOU MENTIONED ABOUT THE POWER SYSTEM AND PROPELLERS, AS WE BEGIN TO LOSE POWER FROM THE RTG IT BEGINS TO DETERIORIZE AND LOWER. YOU THINK ABOUT†-- WHAT CAN WE TURN OFF? WHAT DO WE NOT NEED? THERE ARE WAYS TO OPERATE THE SPACECRAFT WITH FEWER PROPELLERS.

AND YOU CAN ALLOW THEM TO COOL. AND THE TEMPERATURE YOU CAN ALLOW IT TO COOL. AS YOU DO, YOU ASSUME MORE RISK. WE HAVE CALCULATED THAT IF ALL GOES WELL WE CAN CONFIDENTLY HOLD UNTIL THE MID 30'S. 2030 BUT IF YOU ASK ME AND SAY I WAS GAMING I THINK WE COULD GO LONGER THAN THAT. WE HAD TO ESTIMATE WHAT A RELIABLE MISSION LIFE IS AND CALCULATE DECAY AND RTG. AND WE ARRIVED IN THE MID-2030S. ALL GOOD. NEXT QUESTION FROM IN THE ROOM. TO CONTINUE WITH WHAT YOU JUST TALKED ABOUT THE 2030S, AND THEN BEFORE ALAN TALKED ABOUT THE DECISION TO GO IN WHAT DIRECTION LET'S SAY IT LASTS BEYOND 2030.

ARE THERE ANY FUTURE PLANS BEYOND THE NEXT ADVENTURE FOR NEW HORIZONS? YES, THERE IS, REALLY. SOME FUTURE PLANS. BUT OF COURSE THEY CANNOT DECIDE UNTIL THERE IS FUNDING AND ALL THAT. SO FROM AN ENGINEERING SCIENTIST, THE ADVANTAGE OF GOING LONGER IS THAT YOU CAN TAKE MEASUREMENTS OF PARTICLES AND INSTRUMENTS AND MEASURE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE HELIOSPHERE AND THE GALACTIC MIDDLE. RIGHT NOW, VOYAGER HAS TRANSFERRED BEYOND THE HELIOSPHERE. AND THE INTERACTIONS THEY DISCOVERED AT THAT LIMIT WAS VERY AMAZING. SO WE COULD ACTUALLY MAKE ANOTHER MEASUREMENT IN ANOTHER PART OF THE LIOSPHERE AND SEE THAT TRANSITION TO OUTER SPACE YOU WOULD CALL IT.

IT IS BEYOND THE SOLAR INFLUENCE. THE NEXT QUESTION COMES FROM THE LOBULO OBSERVATORY. HELLO. MY NAME IS NATALIE FELDER. MY QUESTION IS, WHAT IS THE OUTER BODY CONSTRUCTED OF TO WITHSTAND THE PRESSURE AND VACUUM OF DEEP SCIENCE AND HOW VULNERABLE IS IT TO THE ELEMENTS OF THE UNKNOWN, SO SAY? THE VACUUM IS NOT A PROBLEM BECAUSE THERE ARE FANS THAT LET THE AIR OUT. SO THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM. BUT FOR PROTECTION AGAINST MICRO METEOROIDS, WE TAKEN THE THERMAL BLANKETS AND PUT SPACERS ALL AROUND THEM, LIKE LITTLE CHICKS TO RAISE THE BLANKETS A LITTLE BIGGER. SO WHEN HE SAW THE SHIP WITH THE BLANKETS, THEY ARE NOT PRESSED AGAINST THE SHIP.

THEY STAY AWAY LIKE A BUMPER FOR VERY SMALL PARTICLES THAT MAY BE IN SPACE TO ALLOW THEM TO HIT SOMETHING AND DISBUCK UP SO THEY DO NOT PENETRATE THE SURFACE OF THE SHIP. AND THEN WE ALSO PUT A VERY DENSE LAYER OF KEVLAR ON THE BLANKET. WE HAVE THE THERMAL BLANKETS, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A LAYER INSIDE THERE THAT IS VERY RESISTANT. IT WILL NOT PREVENT THE PARTICLE FROM PASSING THROUGH THAT BLANKET. BUT WHAT IT WILL DO IS BREAK IT SO THAT WHEN IT REACHES THE DECK OF THE SHIP IT DOESN'T ENTER. IT WILL ONLY MAKE ONE FOOTPRINT.

THIS IS HOW WE DESIGNED THE SPACESHIP FOR THAT. ALL GOOD. NEXT QUESTION IN THE ROOM HERE. THANKS LOWELL FOR THE LAST QUESTION. PERFECT TRACKING. HOW IS THAT A TEST? DOES IT LOOK SO THIN? LIKE TAPE. THEY HAD TO BELIEVE IT IS WITH VELCRO. ONE THING WE DID IN OUR TESTS IS THAT WE HAD TO BE VERY PRECISE ABOUT HOW MUCH HEAT IS LEAKING FROM THE SPACECRAFT. SO TO PROVE THAT WE CAN DO THAT, WE ACTUALLY HAD TO PUT THE BLANKETS ON, TEST IT IN A THERMAL VACUUM, REMOVE THE BLANKETS, AND THEN PUT THEM BACK ON AND MAKE SURE IT WAS THE SAME THING.

SO THAT WHEN WE PLAYED IT AGAIN LAST TIME WE COULD HAVE THE CONFIDENCE THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE THE SAME. I THINK IT IS VELCRO AND TAPE. AND THEN THE SPACERS HAVE LIKE A WASHER OR SOMETHING TO SUPPORT IT AND THEN IT IS SPECIALIZED FAS ON THE UPPER PART. BUT WE HAVE AMAZING THERMAL ENGINEERS THAT WILL SEW THESE BLANKETS. IT IS REALLY QUITE AN OPERATION. THEY HAVE A COMPLETE MODEL ON THE SPACESHIP. THEY BUILD IT UPON THE MODEL AND THEN HAVE TO DISASSEMBLE IT LIKE A DRESS. THE LAST QUESTION COMES FROM LOWELL. ALY McGRAW HERE.

SPACESHIP NERVOUSNESS. DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE SOME NERVOUSNESS OR ARE THEY DESIGNED TO BE ON THE SPACESHIP? WE TRY TO AVOIDMOVING PARTS WHENEVER POSSIBLE TO INCREASE THE RELIABILITY OF THE SHIP. SO THERE'S REALLY NOTHING ON BOARD THAT HAS BEEN MOVED. THE STUDENT POST COUNTER IS ONE THAT CAN MEASURE VERY FINE DISTURBANCES. BECAUSE IT IS INTENDED TO MEASURE A VERY LITTLE IMPACT ON A DETECTOR. BUT IT HAS THE CAPACITY TO SET ITS THRESHOLDS. AND THE ONLY THING I WAS GOING TO SAY IT HAS MOVING PARTS, THERE IS A VALVE INSIDE THE PROPELLERS. SO THE COUNTER ON THE STUDENT'S DESK CAN DETECT WHEN THE PROPELLERS ARE FIRING.

SO ON PLUTO, YOU REALLY HAVE TO GO UP THE THRESHOLD. WHEN WE ARE IN HIBERNATION, WE DO NOT SHOOT ANY. THEY LOWER THE PRESSURE TO BE MORE SENSITIVE. ON PLUTO, WE WILL BE PUSHING, MANEUVERING AND TAKING PICTURES. WHICH REALLY CAUSES SLIGHT DISTURBANCES IN THE SPACESHIP. BUT THERE IS REALLY NO NERVOUSNESS WHEN IT REGARDS THE PICTURES. JUST THE MOVEMENT OF THE SHIP AND THE ATTITUDE CONTROL. ALL GOOD. THANK YOU SO MUCH CHRIS FOR TELLING US ABOUT THE SPACECRAFT. DEFINITELY. . ALRIGHT. NEXT TO THE NASA RESEARCH CENTER IS KIM ENNICO, HERE TO TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ON THE TEAM AND THE PREPARATIONS THEY'RE MAKING FOR THE JULY 14 PLUTO FLYBY.

So Kim? ALL GOOD. SO BEING A NASA SOCIAL, I WANT TO BROADCAST YOU A DAY IN THE LIFE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. WE ARE 37 DAYS AWAY FROM THE NEAREST. WE ARE IN THE DAY OF THE YEAR 157. AND MANY TIMES THESE NUMBERS AND DATES ARE IN MY HEAD. BECAUSE IN THE COURSE OF A SINGLE DAY I MAY BE THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WAS MONTHS AGO, WEEKS AGO, THIS MORNING, TOMORROW, NEXT WEEK AND NEXT YEAR. SO DOING THIS JUGGLING. SO I JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU A SENSE OF A DAY IN THE LIFE OF OPERATIONS. THE MISSION IS LONG.

NINE AND A HALF YEARS. LAUNCHED IN 2006. ARRIVES AT AZUL ON JULY 14, 2015, NINE AND A HALF YEARS AGO. IT'S NOT YOUR WAY TO LAUNCH IT, PUT IT TO SLEEP AND FORGET ABOUT IT FOR NINE YEARS. WHAT THIS REPRESENTS HERE IS SEVEN YEARS OF THE MISSION WRINKLED UP ON A SLIDE, COLOR-CODING THE TIMES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, THE DIFFERENT PERIODS OF ACTIVITIES. TYPICALLY AFTER LAUNCH THE INSTRUMENT CHECKS THE JUPITER FLYFLY WHICH OCCURRED A YEAR AND A HALF AFTER LAUNCH IT ENTERED THIS CRUISE MODE. DURING THE COURSE OF THE CRUISE MODE, THE INSTRUMENTS FALL ASLEEP FOR SEVERAL MONTHS A YEAR AND WAKE UP ABOUT TWO TIMES A YEAR FOR WHICH WE WOULD DO CALIBRATIONS.

TO SEE IF EVERYTHING IS OK. CHECKING IF THE TEMPERATURES WERE WORKING OK. THIS HAS BEEN THE COURSE OF ACTION FOR THE LAST SEVEN YEARS. COLORS REPRESENT†-- PURPLE IS WHEN IN SPINNING MODE, WHICH CHRIS ALLUDED ON. IT GIVES US STABILIZATION BECAUSE THE ANTENNA POINTED AT THE GROUND SAVES FUEL. WE ARE NOT TAKING ANY PHOTOS THEN. THOSE YELLOW PERIODS HERE, OF COURSE, ONLY ONE WEEK HERE, A WEEK THERE TWICE A YEAR. THAT'S WHEN WE SWITCHED TO THREE-AXIS MODE TO MAKE SOME OBSERVATIONS. GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE. 2015. OUR MEETING BEGAN IN JANUARY. YES, JULY 14 WILL BE THE DAY.

BUT OUR TEAM IS VERY BUSY RIGHT NOW. IN FACT, HE IS VERY BUSY RIGHT NOW. AND I HAVE INDICATED A RED LINE WHERE JUNE 6. P MINUS 38. BLUE MINUS 38 DAYS. WE WOKE UP FROM HIBERNATION IN DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR, ENTERED THREE-AXIS MODE AND BEGIN A SERIES OF OPTICAL NAVIGATION USING THE INSTRUMENT TO LOOK AT PLUTO, KAREN, NIX AND HYDRA WITH TWO DIFFERENT MODES AND MEASURE PRECISELY WHERE WE ARE POINTED. WE USED THAT INFORMATION AND DID A CORRECTION MANEUVER A FEW MONTHS AGO. AND WE ARE PLANNING THE NEXT MANEUVER FOR JUNE 15TH. HOWEVER, THAT IS NOT TRUE, BECAUSE THE TEAM IS LOOKING AT DATA THAT WAS TAKEN THREE DAYS AGO AND HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP TODAY.

THEY ARE WATCHING IT, ANALYZING IT AND ON MONDAY A DECISION WILL BE MADE WHETHER OR NOT WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE WITH THE BURNING IN A COUPLE OF DAYS. SO IT'S VERY BUSY RIGHT NOW JUST TO MAKE SENSE OF IT. WHEN WE REACH JULY 14, A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE THE BAR TURNS ORANGE. THAT IS JUST AN INDICATION THAT WE HAVE PUT THE SHIP IN A PARTICULAR MODE CALLED "ENCOUNTER MODE". WHERE AUTONOMY WILL RESTART THE COMMANDER IN CASE WE HAVE A DATA EVENT FAILURE IN COMMAND. WE CANNOT WAIT FOR THE SPACESHIP TO DEPART SAFELY. WE TESTED IT DURING TEST A YEAR AND A HALF AGO BECAUSE WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SPACECRAFT†, THAT ALL THE SYSTEMS ON THE SPACECRAFT WOULD WORK.

SO DOING A FULL REHEARSAL OF WHAT WE WILL DO WITH THE SHIP THIS SUMMER, THIS JULY, TWO RACES AGO REMOVED A LOT OF UNCERTAINTIES ABOUT HOW THE ACTUAL SHIP WILL PERFORM. GO TO NEXT SLIDE. I WANT TO NOTE THIS. IF EVERYONE DOESN'T KNOW THIS INCREDIBLE SITE, EYES ON NASA.GOV. THIS IS A SCREEN CAPTURE FROM APRIL WHEN WE DID A TEST SIMULATING THE GROUND SUPPORT WE NEED FOR A PARTICULAR TYPE OF EXPERIMENT WE ARE GOING TO PERFORM DURING PLUTO AND KAREN OCCULTATIONS. WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS THIS IS MADRID, PIEDRA DE ORO AND CON BERRA. WE HAD FIVE ANTENNAS IN USE.

NOW WE CHANGE TO LIVING. AND I WANT TO INDICATE THAT IF YOU GO TO HIM RIGHT NOW YOU WILL SEE THAT WE ARE REALLY TALKING TO CANBERRA. OUR CALL SIGN IS NHPC. THIS IS 70 METERS, THE LARGEST PLATE. THESE ARE 34 METERS. TODAY WE ARE DOWNLOADING DATA THAT WE COLLECTED THE LAST DAYS. IN FACT, TODAY'S DATA WAS BEFORE MORNING, OPTICAL NAVIGATION. WE ARE OBTAINING HAZARD DATA RIGHT NOW. WE CALL IT LUNA SEARCH DATA, HAZARD DATA. WE HAVE STRATEGICALLY LOOKED AT THE PLUTO SYSTEM, SEARCHING FOR MOONS TO INFORM THE PROJECT WHETHER OR NOT WE NEED TO MAKE A COURSE CORRECTION.

WE HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING TO DATE BUT WE ARE STILL TAKING THESE LOOKS. WE HAVE SPECIFIC TIMES AND TIMELINES AND MAY MAKE THE DECISION TO GO ON A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT PATH OR ATTITUDE OF SPACE GRIP. WE SHOW YOU THE LATEST IMAGES FROM THE PUBLICATION OF THE LORI CAMERA ON THE WEBSITE. GO TO THE MAIN WEBSITE. THERE IS THIS LITTLE CAMERA ICON. HE WILL SHOW YOU THE PICTURES OF LORI. AND HERE IS ONE. THIS IS A SCREEN CAPTURE. BUT IF YOU LOOK RIGHT NOW YOU WILL SEE THAT THESE ARE DATA TAKEN FROM JUNE 6TH THAT ARE SHOWING RIGHT NOW.

THEY ARE SHOWING YOU THE SYSTEM. AND YOU CAN LOOK AT THE THUMBNAILS AND FOLLOW. MY MESSAGE IS WE DON'T WAIT UNTIL JULY 14TH. JULY 14 IS GOING TO BE EPIC. THE SPACESHIP IS BUSY TAKING PICTURES OF PLUTO. WE WILL BE SITTING AND WAITING. BUT NOW WE ARE REALLY TAKING SOME NEW DATA THAT COMMUNICATES WITH THE SHIP AND MAKING A LOT OF DECISIONS RIGHT NOW. WE CAN MOVE ON. TO GIVE THEM A GLANCE THAT WILL GIVE THEM A SENSE IN THE PRESENT DAY RIGHT NOW IN MY LIFE AND ALSO IN THE LIFE OF THE TEAM, BECAUSE I DO WANT TO QUOTE ONE OF MY HEROES, EMMETT FROM THE LEGO MOVIE.

EVERYTHING WAS SEEN SOMEONE BUT EVERYTHING GROUND WHEN YOU ARE PART OF A TEAM. WE HAVE TO HAVE AS MANY WITH AS MANY DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES REVIEWING THE DATA PRODUCTS. SO I HAVE INDICATED THAT OVER THE COURSE OF A DAY I COULD START THE MORNING WITH A CONVERSATION TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING WE DID THREE MONTHS AGO. WE ARE SITTING ON A REVIEW OF SOMETHING GOING UP TO THE SPACESHIP IN TWO DAYS, TO PLAN THE LINK BELOW OF THE DATA THAT IS GOING TO OCCUR OVER THE NEXT YEAR AND A HALF. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A LOAD THAT WE JUST REVISED THAT IS FOR THE FLY-BY.

WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS A STK PICTURE. GREEN REPRESENTS THE FIELD OF VISION OF THE LORI IMAGEER. TO QUOTE ONE OF OUR SEQUENCERS, WHEN HE MADE THESE IMAGES HE WAS SAD BECAUSE THEY ARE GETTING SMALLER AND SMALLER AND SMALLER AS WE GO FURTHER AND FURTHER. THE LIGHTING IS DIFFERENT. WE FLY WHEN PLUTO AND CHARON ARE ILLUMINATED. THEY BECOME DARKER WORLDS AND JUST VERY DIFFERENT. WE HAVE MANY SERIES OF SPECIFIC IMAGES WE ARE GOING TO TAKE. LOOKING AT THE BAG AT THESE FINE croissants TO LOOK FOR DUST. WE WILL NOT COME BACK. SO THIS IS SOMETHING WE ARE PLANNING FOR JULY 21ST.

WELL. AND IT HAD BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE THAT WE ARE DOWNLOADING DATA RIGHT NOW. WE ARE IN JUNE. AND THE DATA COVER ALL TYPES OF SCIENCES. WHEN WE ARRIVE AT THE REAL MEETING IN JULY, WE HAVE TO FILL THE RECORDERS AS BEST AS POSSIBLE. WE ARE NOT LINKING SO MUCH. BECAUSE EVERY SECOND THAT YOU LOOK AT EARTH IS A SECOND THAT YOU DO NOT LOOK AT PLUTO. WHEN YOU GO 50,000 KILOMETERS AN HOUR YOU WANT TO TAKE AS MANY PHOTOS AND SPECTRUMS AS YOU CAN. SO WE ONLY FILL THE HARD BANKS. WE HAVE A COUPLE OF DATA SNIPPETS.

IN AUGUST, GOING OUT A YEAR AND A HALF, WE WILL BE DOWNLOADING THIS DATA. I AM INVOLVED IN THE PLANNING FOR THAT. SO OVER THE COURSE OF A DAY, I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THE PAST. I AM LOOKING FOR DATA. DOING SCIENCE. I AM HELPING TO REVIEW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE SPACESHIP IN A MONTH, IN A WEEK, IN A COUPLE OF DAYS. I AM THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE. WE PREPARE FOR THE MEETING. TODAY WE RECEIVED DATA FOR THE DANGER TEAM. THEY ARE ANALYZING THE DATA RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THEY NEED TO MAKE A DECISION ON MONDAY. IT IS A VERY ACTIVE PERIOD FOR THE WHOLE TEAM.

YOU CAN KEEP WATCHING US ON THAT WEBSITE. WE ARE NOT TALKING DSN ALL THE TIME, BUT WE TALK SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK. AND ALSO LOOKING AT THE WEBSITE TO SEE THE LATEST IMAGES OF LORI. IT IS A VERY EXCITING TIME RIGHT NOW. AND WE HAVE NOT EVEN REACHED JULY 14. WE HAVE 37 DAYS TO GO. ALL GOOD. THANK YOU SO MUCH KIM FOR SHARING WITH US A BIT OF HOW THE DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE TEAM LOOKS LIKE, HOW THEY ARE PREPARING FOR THE PREPARATIONS AND EVERYTHING. AND KIM IS ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. SHE CAN DEFINITELY ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS HERE.

USE THE ASK NASA HASHTAG. MARVELOUS. ALRIGHT. YEAH. SO NEXT, IN THE INTEREST OF THE TIME HERE, WE WANT TO PROVIDE A GREAT WAY IN WHICH YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN FOLLOWING UP THE FLYOVER. WE Saw A GLANCE OF ALL THE PLANNING KIM WAS TALKING ABOUT AND ALL. AND YOU CAN SEE WITH THE EYES OF NASA ON THE SOLAR SYSTEM WITH THE EYES ON THE PLUTO MODULE A LITTLE HOW YOU CAN ALSO SEE AND FOLLOW DURING THE WHOLE FLIGHT SEQUENCE. HERE TO TALK A LITTLE MORE ABOUT IT IS KEVIN HUSSEY FROM NASA'S JET PROPULSION LABORATORY. Kevin? THANK YOU.

HEAD OF A GROUP IN THE JET PRO PUDDLE LABORATORY WHOSE JOB IS TO VISUALIZE THE DATA COLLECTED BY NASA. ONE OF THE TOOLS THAT HAS BEEN MENTIONED ALREADY ARE THE EYES OF NASA. EYES ON NASA.GOV. MY GOAL HERE IN THE NEXT MINUTES IS TO TRAIN YOU HOW TO BECOME A VIRTUAL EXPLORER OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM USING EYES ON NASA.GOV. START BY GOING TO THE WEBSITE. WHEN YOU DO IT, YOU WILL SEE A BIG DOWNLOAD BUTTON. WHEN YOU PRESS DOWNLOAD YOU WILL LITERALLY DOWNLOAD ESSENTIALLY LIKE A VIDEO GAME. WE USE VIDEO GAME TECHNOLOGY TO ALLOW YOU TO VISUALIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

NOW, I HAVE DONE IT, OBVIOUSLY. SO I'M GOING TO MINIMIZE THIS. ONCE YOU DOWNLOAD IT, YOU WILL GET AN ICON WHICH SAYS NASA EYES. BTW, THIS IS A LIVE DEMO. I HAVE BEEN WARNED ABOUT DOING LIVE DEMOS. IT DOESN'T SCARE ME. I'M GOING TO DOUBLE CLICK THIS TO SHOW YOU WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE ONCE YOU DOWNLOAD THIS SOFTWARE. WE HAVE MANY DIFFERENT PRODUCTS. WE HAVE ONE THAT SPEAKS ABOUT THE EARTH. WE HAVE TWO FOR THE SOLAR SYSTEM. AND WE HAVE ONE FOR EXOPLANETS, PLANETS DISCOVERED AROUND OTHER STARS. WE ALSO HAVE THESE LINKS AT THE BOTTOM WHICH ARE SUBSETS OF EYES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM.

WELL. ONE OF WHICH IS CALLED EYES ON PLUTO. THAT'S THE ONE I'M GOING TO SPEND MOST OF MY TIME TODAY. BEFORE I DO IT I WANT TO MAKE A NOTE HERE EYES ON THE SOLAR SUBSTANTIAL HAS A SIMPLE AND ADVANCED MODE. THE SIMPLE MODE IS FOR EVERYONE OVER 30 YEARS OLD. ADVANCED MODE IS FOR THE REST OF US. WE WILL START BY SHOWING YOU THE ADVANCED MODE TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE CONTEXT. ONE OF THE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO IS MAKE SURE YOU GO TO THE SCREEN. WE REMIND YOU THAT THERE IS A CHANGE HERE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO GO TO FULL SCREEN.

WE PROVIDE YOU A VIRTUAL CAMERA. IT LOOKS LIKE A MOUSE BUT IT'S ACTUALLY YOUR CAMERA. BY CLICKING AND DRAGGING SOMEWHERE IN SPACE, YOU CAN CHANGE THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE CAMERA. AND THEN TO CHANGE THE CENTER OF YOUR FIELD OF VIEW, JUST DOUBLE CLICK ON A LABEL. I WILL DOUBLE CLICK ON MARS. WE WILL FLY TO MARS, DOWNLOAD THE DATA. ALL THE SATELLITES YOU SEE HERE AND CELESTIAL OBJECTS ARE IN THEIR CORRECT LOCATION. WE OFFER SCALE AND DISTANCE. SO I'M GOING TO ZOOM BACK HERE AND KEEP ZOOMING OUT. AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW HORIZONS.

AND THERE IT IS. IT IS PAST NEPTUNE. IF I DOUBLE CLICK ON THE SHIP, WE WILL TRAVEL NEW HORIZONS. THERE IT IS TURNING AT ITS PROPER RHYTHM, POINTING ITS ANTENNA TOWARDS THE EARTH. AND PLUTO IS IN THE DISTANCE. NOW, I CAN SPEND A LOT OF TIME SHOWING ALL THE DIFFERENT CONTROLS AT THE BOTTOM. I DO NOT HAVE THAT MUCH TIME. I'M GOING TO LET YOU DO IT ON YOUR OWN. WHAT I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU IS SOMETHING WE BUILT CALLED EYES ON PLUTO THAT GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONFIGURE THE USER INTERFACE IN A SPECIFIC WAY FOR THIS PARTICULAR MISSION.

UNDER "TOURISM FEATURES", CLICK ON "NEW HORIZONS". SO WHAT IS GOING ON IS THAT WE ARE LOADING A SPECIAL USER INTERFACE THAT IS ABOUT THE CLOSEST APPROACH TO PLUTO OF THE NEW HORIZONS. COMPUTER SIMULATION ON THE TOP AND "LIVE". THAT MEANS THAT IS WHERE THE NEW HORIZONS ARE RIGHT NOW IN RELATION TO PLUTO. THAT IS ITS DISTANCE FROM PLUTO, SPEED RELATIVE TO PLUTO, CLOSEST APPROACH TIME. 37 DAYS, 17 HOURS, 25 MINUTES. AND THEN NOTICE ON THE RIGHT SIDE THAT HAS THE CURRENT TIME. SO RIGHT NOW. THERE ARE TWO MODES. WE ARE IN LIVE MODE. THERE IS ALSO A PREVIEW MODE.

BEFORE I GO TO PREVIEW MODE, I WANT TO SHOW YOU THE CAMERA MODES. WE ARE IN TRAVEL ALONG MODE WHICH MEANS WE ARE TRAVELING ALONG WITH THE SPACESHIP AND THE CAMERA IS BLOCKING ON ODD PLUTO. IF I CLICK AND DRAG, PLUTO STAYS IN THE FIELD OF VIEW. IF I CHANGE TO THESPACESHIP CAMERA, FOCUS IS ON NEW HORIZONS. TO BE ABLE TO TURN AND LOOK AT ALL THE DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS, TURN, GO BACK TO EARTH, LOOK WHEREVER YOU WANT. AND THEN THERE'S†-- I'LL GET TO THE OVERVIEW WHEN I SWITCH TO PREVIEW MODE. SO I'M GOING TO LEAVE THAT CAMERA FOR PREVIEW MODE.

AND I'M GOING TO GO ON AND CLICK PREVIEW. WHAT YOU WILL DO BEFORE, IT TAKES YOU ONE DAY FROM THE EVENT. I'M GOING TO GO FOR A WALK. AND NOW YOU ARE LOOKING AT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN ON JULY 13 AT 10:00 A.M. WHEN YOU SEE THOSE COLORED LINES PROJECTED FROM THE SPACECRAFT, THOSE ARE THE LINES OF THE FIELD OF VIEW FOR THE VARIOUS INSTRUMENTS. IT'S TEN MINUTES A SECOND NOW. THIS IS THE SEQUENCE OUR COLLEAGUES GAVE US HERE IN A PL. THIS IS WHAT WILL BE DONE ACCORDING TO THE INDICATED TIME. SO IF YOU COME TO THE SOFTWARE THAT MORNING.

IT IS ABOUT 50,000 MILES AWAY. I'M GOING TO GO ABOUT 30 SECONDS PER SECOND. SO YOU CAN SEE THE SHIP IS VERY, VERY ACTIVE DURING THIS PERIOD. YOU CAN SEE WHERE IT IS LOCATED. THIS WINDOW HERE SHOWS YOU WHAT INSTRUMENTS ARE ON. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, LET ME CUT THAT OUT. YOU CAN SEE, LORI, RALPH, ALICE, THEY ARE ALL ON WHICH MEANS THEY CAN TAKE DATA. THE FIELD OF LINES OF SIGHT FOR LORI IS 1,000†x†1,000 IMAGE. SO THERE IS ANOTHER FEATURE. YOU CAN GO OVER EACH OF THE INSTRUMENT NAMES AND WE WILL TELL YOU WHAT THOSE INSTRUMENTS DO. THIS TOOL, THE EYES OF NASA, ALLOWS YOU TO BE THE ARMCHAIR EXPLORER.

I PROMISED I'D SHOW YOU THE SPACESHIP†-- SORRY, THE OVERVIEW. IF YOU PRESS OVERVIEW IT SHOWS YOU WHERE THE SPACECRAFT IS IN RELATION TO THE SYSTEM. AND, AGAIN, ON JULY 14TH AT 7:00 AM, IT KEEPS COMING. ALRIGHT. SO I'M GOING TO PAUSE NOW FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT MAY BE IN THE ROOM OR ELSEWHERE. WE HAVE TIME FOR A QUICK QUESTION. ANY QUESTIONS? ALRIGHT. THE SOFTWARE IS NOT OPEN SOURCE, BUT IS AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WITH A WINDOW OR MACINTOSH COMPUTER TO OPERATE IN THIS WAY. WONDERFUL. WE HOPE YOU DOWNLOAD EYES ON THE SOLAR SYSTEM TO FOLLOW THE FLYOVER.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EVERYTHING BEFORE THE OVERFLIGHT. VISIT NASA.GOV/NEW HORIZONS. BE SURE TO FOLLOW EVERYTHING NASA HAS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING US TODAY FOR THE NASA SOCIAL. WE ARE VERY EXCITED. IT COMES ON JULY 14. PLUTO IS COMING. WE HOPE TO GET SOME OF THE BEST RESULTS WE HAVE EVER HAD AND SEE A WHOLE NEW PERSPECTIVE ON PLUTO. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR TODAY'S NASA SOCIAL. LET'S GO TO NEW HORIZONS!