[dramatic percussion music]
- HEY, THERE. WELCOME TO "NASA LAUNCHPAD."
I'M YOUR HOST, AMBER WHALEN.
WHAT'S THE FASTEST SPACECRAFT TO LEAVE EARTH'S ORBIT?
NOPE, NOT THE SPACE SHUTTLE.
THAT'S FAST, MOVING ALONG
AT ABOUT 28,000 KILOMETERS AN HOUR,
BUT IT STAYS IN EARTH'S ORBIT.
AND IT'S NOT THE APOLLO MISSIONS EITHER.
HERE'S A HINT:
THE SPACECRAFT LAUNCHED ON JANUARY 19, 2006.
GIVE UP?
IT'S THE NEW HORIZONS SPACECRAFT,
HEADING FOR PLUTO AND THE KUIPER BELT.
WHEN IT LEFT EARTH'S ORBIT,
IT WAS TRAVELING AT AN AMAZING 57,600 KILOMETERS PER HOUR,
MORE THAN TWICE THE SPEED OF THE SHUTTLE.
HOW FAST IS THAT?
WELL, TO PUT IT INTO PERSPECTIVE,
THE APOLLO ASTRONAUTS TRAVELED FROM EARTH TO THE MOON
IN ABOUT THREE DAYS.
IT ONLY TOOK NEW HORIZONS ABOUT NINE HOURS FROM LAUNCH
TO PASS OUR MOON.
BUT WHAT IS NEW HORIZONS?
WHERE IS IT GOING?
WHAT'S ITS MISSION?
WELL, HERE'S ALLEN LUNSFORD,
NASA TECHNOLOGIST ON THE NEW HORIZON MISSION,
TO GIVE US THE SCOOP.
- NEW HORIZONS IS OUR MISSION TO PLUTO.
FOR YEARS, NASA AND OTHER GROUPS
HAVE TRIED TO GET A MISSION FUNDED TO GO TO PLUTO,
BECAUSE AT THE TIME,
IT WAS THE FURTHEST BODY THAT WAS KNOWN.
WELL, WE'VE DISCOVERED SOME FURTHER OUT NOW.
BUT WE KNOW A LOT ABOUT PLUTO
BECAUSE WE'VE OBSERVED IT FOR MANY YEARS,
BUT WE'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO REALLY OBSERVE IT UP CLOSE,
SO THERE'S A LOT OF GAPS IN OUR KNOWLEDGE.
SO WE PUT THE NEW HORIZONS MISSION TOGETHER.
- COOL, RIGHT?
WELL, ACTUALLY, THE TEMPERATURE ON NEW HORIZONS
DOES HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED.
THERE ARE SEVERAL COMPUTERS
AND SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS ON BOARD,
AND THOSE FUNCTION BEST AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.
THAT COULD BE A PRETTY TOUGH TASK
AS THE SPACECRAFT IS HURLING
THROUGH THE FRIGID EXPANSES OF SPACE.
BUT NEVER FEAR.
NASA SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS THOUGHT OF EVERYTHING,
AND THE INSTRUMENTS ARE KEPT AT THE TEMPERATURE THEY NEED.
IN ALL, THERE ARE SEVEN SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS
ABOARD NEW HORIZONS.
THERE'S THE RALPH INSTRUMENT,
WHICH IS A VISIBLE AND INFRARED IMAGER
AS WELL AS A SPECTROMETER.
THEN THERE'S ALICE,
WHICH IS THE ULTRAVIOLET IMAGING SPECTROMETER;
REX, THE RADIO SCIENCE EXPERIMENT,
WHICH MEASURES ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND TEMPERATURE;
LORRI, THE LONG RANGE RECONNAISSANCE IMAGER,
WHICH IS A TELESCOPIC CAMERA
THAT OBTAINS ENCOUNTER DATA AT LONG DISTANCES,
MAPS PLUTO'S FAR SIDE,
AND PROVIDES HIGH-RESOLUTION GEOLOGIC DATA.
SWAP, THE SOLAR WIND AROUND PLUTO,
IS A SOLAR WIND SPECTROMETER
THAT MEASURES THE ESCAPE RATE OF THE ATMOSPHERE.
PEPSSI IS THE PLUTO
ENERGETIC PARTICLE SPECTROMETER SCIENCE INVESTIGATION,
AND IT'S THE ENERGETIC PARTICLE SPECTROMETER
THAT MEASURES THE COMPOSITION AND DENSITY OF PLASMA IONS
ESCAPING FROM PLUTO'S ATMOSPHERE.
AND THEN THERE'S THE SDC, OR STUDENT DUST COUNTER,
WHICH MEASURES THE SPACE DUST ENCOUNTERED BY NEW HORIZONS.
AND GUESS WHAT.
THE SDC ACTUALLY WAS BUILT BY STUDENTS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO.
OKAY, SO ALL OF THAT IS ON NEW HORIZONS,
AND IT'S HEADING TOWARDS PLUTO.
WELL, THAT'S A REALLY LONG DISTANCE,
AND ALONG THE WAY,
THERE ARE SOME PRETTY EXCITING THINGS TO SEE.
FOR EXAMPLE, AS NEW HORIZONS COMPLETED ITS SLINGSHOT
PAST JUPITER IN EARLY 2007,
IT WAS ABLE TO UTILIZE ITS INSTRUMENTS
TO GATHER NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLANET AND ITS MOONS.
FOR ONE THING, NEW HORIZONS SCOPED OUT THE MOON IO
AND SAW 11 DIFFERENT VOLCANIC PLUMES,
THREE OF WHICH HAD NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE,
AND ONE WAS A 320-KILOMETER-HIGH ERUPTION
THAT ALLOWED THE UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY
TO TRACK THE MOTION AND STRUCTURE OF THE PLUME
AS IT CONDENSED AT A HIGH ALTITUDE
AND FELL BACK TO THE MOON'S SURFACE.
NEW HORIZONS' FLIGHT DOWN JUPITER'S MAGNETOTAIL
GAVE IT A NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN LOOK AT THE HUGE REGION
AFFECTED BY THE PLANET'S STRONG MAGNETIC FIELD.
THE NEW HORIZONS PARTICLE DETECTORS
SAW EVIDENCE THAT TONS OF THE MATERIAL
FROM IO'S VOLCANOES
MOVE DOWN THE TAIL IN LARGE, DENSE, SLOW-MOVING BLOBS.
BY ANALYZING THIS INFORMATION, NEW HORIZONS SCIENTISTS
ARE EXPLORING HOW THE VOLCANIC GASES FROM IO
ARE IONIZED, TRAPPED, AND ENERGIZED
BY JUPITER'S MAGNETIC FIELD,
THEN ULTIMATELY EJECTED FROM THE SYSTEM.
AND THERE'S A LOT MORE NEW INFORMATION
THAT NEW HORIZONS GATHERED ABOUT JUPITER,
EVEN AFTER OTHER MISSIONS
HAVE ALREADY VISITED THE PLANET AND ITS MOONS.
BUT REMEMBER, THAT'S NOT EVEN
THE PRIMARY FOCUS FOR NEW HORIZONS.
IT'S GOT ITS EYES SET ON PLUTO.
IMAGINE HOW MUCH NEW INFORMATION WE'RE GOING TO FIND OUT.
YOU KNOW, I REALLY THINK ALLEN SAID IT BEST.
- THERE'S SO MUCH THAT EVERY TIME IN HISTORY
THAT WE THINK WE KNOW, YOU KNOW,
SOME BIG PART OF EVERYTHING,
WE LEARN THAT WE REALLY DON'T KNOW AS MUCH AS WE THOUGHT.
I MEAN, WHEN WE DISCOVERED PLUTO,
THAT WAS AN AMAZING DISCOVERY.
AND FOR YEARS, 50, 60 YEARS,
THAT WAS THE EDGE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
UNTIL WE STARTED LOOKING-- BEING ABLE TO LOOK CLOSER
AT WHAT'S OUT THERE BEYOND PLUTO,
AND NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN,
WE DISCOVER NEW THINGS OUT THERE.
THERE'S ALWAYS THINGS TO DISCOVER.
EVEN JUPITER, WHICH IS REALLY BIG
AND REALLY WELL-STUDIED,
WE CONTINUE TO SEND MISSIONS THERE
AND CONTINUE TO SURPRISE OURSELVES
ABOUT WHAT PROCESSES ARE AT WORK THERE.
WE JUST DISCOVERED SOMETHING NEW.
THERE'S ALWAYS NEW STUFF TO DISCOVER
ACROSS THE WHOLE RANGE OF SCIENCES.
- IT'S GOING TO TAKE A WHILE
FOR NEW HORIZONS TO GET TO PLUTO.
IT'S NOT SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE UNTIL 2015.
AND IN THE MEANTIME,
IT GOES INTO ELECTRONIC HIBERNATION
TO REDUCE WEAR AND TEAR
FOR ABOUT TEN MONTHS OUT OF EVERY YEAR,
JUST WAKING UP FOR SYSTEM CHECKOUTS
AND INSTRUMENT CALIBRATIONS.
THAT WAY, BY THE TIME IT GETS TO PLUTO,
IT'LL BE WELL-RESTED AND READY TO GATHER INFORMATION.
AND WHO KNOWS?
BY THAT TIME, YOU MIGHT EVEN BE ABLE TO HELP
ANALYZE ALL THE DATA.
WELL, THAT'S IT FOR NOW.
FOR "NASA LAUNCHPAD," I'M AMBER WHALEN.
WE'LL CATCH YOU NEXT TIME.