Uploaded July 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
What’s cool about Pluto? Get a quick peek at the latest science in this daily update from NASA’s New Horizons mission, on track for a flight past Pluto on July 14, 2015.
We're going to Pluto! We just don't totally know where it is... This is Pluto in a minute.
Alright, it's not as pad as it sounds. It takes Pluto 248 Earth-years to go around the Sun, but we've only known about Pluto since Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet in 1930. So we only have 85 years or a very small arc of its orbit of data.
Scientists know from both Earth and space-based observations the rough size of Pluto's diameter. What we don't know with as much precision is the distance between the Sun and Pluto or New Horizons and Pluto. The error isn't that bad -- it's only about 1,000 miles.
Here's what the problem looks like. If I'm Pluto and my hand is New Horizons, the spacecraft is going to make it's flyby past Pluto in a roughly straight line. However, Pluto could be slightly forward or slightly behind where the spacecraft thinks it will be.
Because New Horizons has an onboard clock telling it when to begin that imaging and data-gathering sequence based on where Pluto should be, if the planet is in a different location it means the imaging sequence will be totally off, right? Not so!
It all comes down to navigation data. The New Horizons team can actually go into the spacecraft's computer and adjust the clock by up to 7.5 minutes to change the observation start time depending on where the planet really is.
For more on Pluto be sure to check out the New Horizons' websites and tweet your questions with the hashtag #PlutoFlyBy. And come back here tomorrow for more Pluto in a Minute.
Special thanks to Deputy Project Scientist Cathy Olkin of the Southwest Research Institute for explaining this topic!
To learn more about the mission visit:
nasa.gov/newhorizons
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu
What’s cool about Pluto? Get a quick peek at the latest science in this daily update from NASA’s New Horizons mission, on track for a flight past Pluto on July 14, 2015.
We're going to Pluto! We just don't totally know where it is... This is Pluto in a minute.
Alright, it's not as pad as it sounds. It takes Pluto 248 Earth-years to go around the Sun, but we've only known about Pluto since Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet in 1930. So we only have 85 years or a very small arc of its orbit of data.
Scientists know from both Earth and space-based observations the rough size of Pluto's diameter. What we don't know with as much precision is the distance between the Sun and Pluto or New Horizons and Pluto. The error isn't that bad -- it's only about 1,000 miles.
Here's what the problem looks like. If I'm Pluto and my hand is New Horizons, the spacecraft is going to make it's flyby past Pluto in a roughly straight line. However, Pluto could be slightly forward or slightly behind where the spacecraft thinks it will be.
Because New Horizons has an onboard clock telling it when to begin that imaging and data-gathering sequence based on where Pluto should be, if the planet is in a different location it means the imaging sequence will be totally off, right? Not so!
It all comes down to navigation data. The New Horizons team can actually go into the spacecraft's computer and adjust the clock by up to 7.5 minutes to change the observation start time depending on where the planet really is.
For more on Pluto be sure to check out the New Horizons' websites and tweet your questions with the hashtag #PlutoFlyBy. And come back here tomorrow for more Pluto in a Minute.
Special thanks to Deputy Project Scientist Cathy Olkin of the Southwest Research Institute for explaining this topic!
To learn more about the mission visit:
nasa.gov/newhorizons
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu
