A Sight Never Seen by Human Eyes is Coming

originally posted by: SheopleNation
To give an idea of the general direction of both of the Voyager1 and Voyager2 probes, this link provides it. It clearly shows that they are only exploring a very small part of the Space that exists outside our Solar System. ~$heopleNation.

Voyager 1 & 2 Flight Paths

If one of the two Voyagers would have gone in a different direction, it would have not been able to visit any planets.

The point of the Voyager Program was to take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune -- which were all on the same side of the Sun in the 1980s and early 1990s. Due to this alignment, Jupiter and Saturn could be used as gravity assists to propel the probes further out.

The Primary missions of Both were to visits Jupiter and Saturn, because Jupiter was in the right location to give both Voyagers a gravity assist to Saturn. The two craft ended up having slightly different trajectories that allowed Voyager 2 to also visit Uranus and Neptune, due to a gravity assist from Saturn, but one other reason for having two craft was that one could be a backup if the other failed.

That's why both craft were headed in the same general direction.

originally posted by: fartsmeller46
Don`t get too excited Skippy. NASA has a flawless track record of obscuring anything deemed to be earth shattering news. The closer you get the blurrier the images will be.Just look at the close up pics of the unexplained bright lights on Ceres, smudged over and blurry just as you get close enough to have your mind blown.Expect the same from our overlords as we approach Pluto.

Oh stop it. That's not true at all. NASA provides AMAZING images and makes almost every single thing they snap available to the public, for the most part. Stop coming in here trolling, dude. . .

Love your enthusiasm, and love the pictures.

Space, the final frontier

Our future has the potential of brilliance and beneficial expansion. Humanity needs to get on yhe right track, and cooperate rather compete.

Cheers

a reply to: jaffo

I always was looking forward to see a closer look of the surface of Pluto! Approaching the destination makes it exciting. I wonder why in concepts they always present pluto as brown-white surface and not like an asteroid terrain or that of moonlike satellites of planets.

Either way, waiting for as close picture as a full disc of Mars with some surface details, I wonder if we will get that for Pluto and when..

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

Yeah I know Soy, I am talking about after they left our Solar System. ~$heopleNation

I'm pretty excited about this to, here is some nice pics for anyone wanting to get a refresher on size and moons.





I like this piece of art depicting how dim the sun is:

originally posted by: sirChill

Pluto-Charon is a binary dwarf planet system.

originally posted by: SheopleNation
a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

Yeah I know Soy, I am talking about after they left our Solar System. ~$heopleNation

The two voyagers have been coasting for practically their entire flight (except for the first hour after launch, when 99.99% of the total fuel was used), so after the initial launch, there is really no way to change their direction, other than a few minor course adjustments.

Sure, slingshot gravity-assists around other planets did make more than subtle changes to the direction, but there are no more (known) planets to allow for such a change in direction.

For example, Voyager 1 had the option of EITHER doing a flyby of Pluto or a fly-by of Saturn's moon Titan (Pluto was also part of that alignment in the 1980s that put all of the outer planets on one side of the Sun). However, it could not do both. At the time, mission scientists thought a flyby of Titan had more scientific value and less risk, so they decided it would visit Titan. Doing so put it on a trajectory that would not allow it to visit Pluto.

Mission planners were generally at the mercy of the trajectories the crafts were originally set out on, along with the relatively minor trajectory changes made possible by the slingshot effect around the gas giants.

originally posted by: swanne
a reply to: jaffo

Ah, finally!

I was waiting to get a closer look at Pluto.

Hm, not bad for a first glance of the dwarf planet!

Here is the pic everyone:

Hmm, I very distinctly see a light on the bottom right side and you can also see an airbrush smudge in bottom left. They are clearly trying to hide something.

I read a sci-fi story decades ago...

Pluto might have Methane Snowfall and that is what's causing the light & dark areas...

also the snowfall dunes are a result of a interaction between Pluto and another binary companion so the 400 below zero snowfall is a cyclical thing, like our Earth tides

the sci-fi story was fiction in the 60's but may actually be a prediction in our time

originally posted by: St Udio
I read a sci-fi story decades ago...

Pluto might have Methane Snowfall and that is what's causing the light & dark areas...

also the snowfall dunes are a result of a interaction between Pluto and another binary companion so the 400 below zero snowfall is a cyclical thing, like our Earth tides

the sci-fi story was fiction in the 60's but may actually be a prediction in our time

One of the main hypotheses is that the dark splotches on Pluto may be hydrocarbon tars. These dark splotches seem to be changing with the seasonal change going on right now on Pluto (it is headed toward a 125 year cold season as it moves away from the sun, and is now leaving the 125-year warmer season when it was closer to the sun). The brighter patches are though to be CO2 frost.

Maybe as Pluto heads into its long winter, the dwarf planet's atmosphere freezes and shows down upon the down splotches, covering the splotches, making for change in appearance as the season changes.

Source:
Strange Spots on Pluto May be Tar and Frost

Excerpt:

We know there's methane on Pluto," said dwarf planet expert Mike Brown of Caltech. "Here's what we think happens: Sunlight hits the methane and breaks it apart into its chemical components ??hydrocarbons. Over millions of years this process makes a dark reddish-brown oil or tar-like substance that sticks to the ground. These darker areas spread larger as they absorb more sunlight and cause additional frost to sublimate."

The bright spots, in turn, are thought to be related to areas covered in carbon monoxide frost.

These recent views of Pluto reveal a different picture from what astronomers observed in past images, partly because the dwarf planet's appearance is changing with the seasons. But seasons are extremely long on Pluto. The reason: It takes the world 248 Earth-years to make a full trip around the sun...

...Right now, Pluto is a relatively balmy minus 385 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 232 degrees Celsius), following its closest approach to the sun in the late 1980s. But Pluto is in for some colder times in the future.

And when temperatures get frigid enough, scientists think the gas in Pluto's wispy atmosphere will actually freeze and fall to the ground.

Although, this article goes on to say:

"Now, Pluto is headed away from the sun again," says Brown. "It will gradually get colder and colder and its atmosphere will refreeze to its surface. In fact, that should have already started happening, but apparently it has not. It's a mystery."

So I'm not sure if the seasonal changes to the dark spots are actually being observed or not. I remember hearing that they DID seem to be changing.

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

And when temperatures get frigid enough, scientists think the gas in Pluto's wispy atmosphere will actually freeze and fall to the ground

isn't it splendiferous that a sci-fi model on the Pluto 'year' was presented to us back in the 1960's...

your post confirms what contemporary Pluto weather is like...but 50-55 years ago....
aren't you somewhat amazed= I was able to recall a story from that long ago
& what A Nerd the poster was --->to be reading that kinda crap during the Vietnam war & the counter culture/ sexual revolution ?



sheeze---- the internet has made us all knowledgeable and Jeopardy trivia wizards (even the 90 IQ tards can appear to be competent)
Wi-Fi the great equalizer !

Thanks for the "New Horizons" reminder. I'm really looking forward to seeing the pictures and whatever hidden secrets may be exposed by this mission.

I spent a few days at the cape to witness the launch over 9 years ago.

a reply to: fartsmeller46

NASA has a flawless track record of obscuring anything deemed to be earth shattering news.

Such as?

Just look at the close up pics of the unexplained bright lights on Ceres, smudged over and blurry just as you get close enough to have your mind blown.

Like this?

www.nasa.gov...

or these?

www.nasa.gov...

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: tothetenthpower

Show me a Mayan Astrophysicist and then we can talk

I am pretty sure this is a Mayan astrophysicist:

Hahahaha! Love it

a reply to: jaffo
I would not hold my breath for much. But it would be nice to get more then just blobs on the screen, a more clearer pictures of Pluto would be nice.

a reply to: galadofwarthethird

Hold your breath a while.
You'll see more clearerer pictures.

a reply to: galadofwarthethird

OP says around 5000 times better. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the upcoming slideshow!

The latest pics are still pretty far out so you really can't tell, but I wonder if Pluto and it's moons are all part of the same body that was struck by an asteroid/comet/planetoid and broken into many pieces. You can almost see what appears to be jagged edges all over Pluto in the newest images. Or maybe I'm just over excited and seeing things lol. Been waiting on this for a long time, can't wait for the full reveal. Even if it's "just" a nondescript space rock, it will be amazing to be among the first human beings to see it.

Imagine.

Pictures from a planet at the edge of, well, forever.

Truly, we are about to step out of the kiddie pool, into the deep end. The trip'll be worth it, I think.

Oh, the places you'll go...

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

The Universe awaits!