Pluto: 15 facts about the New Horizons mission

the space probe New Horizons da NASA made history completing a journey of 9 years to the closest point to the planet Pluto. After traveling almost 5 billion kilometers (what is the distance between Pluto and Earth), she came to just 12.500 km of the dwarf planet – the closest point the equipment could reach.

The mission's objective was to analyze more details about the surface and temperature of Pluto, in addition to expanding knowledge about the region in which it is located, the so-called Kuiper Girdle. The planet is a kind of "ugly duckling” of our solar system, having been “downgraded” to dwarf planet from  International Astronomical Union in 2006.

But now, Pluto and New Horizons are in the spotlight for astronomers and the general public, with tons of scientific data and high-resolution photos being sent to the team coordinating the mission here on Earth. Check out some very interesting facts about this great human endeavor below:

1 - Maximum Speed

With speed reached 21 km per second (when it passed Jupiter), the New Horizons it's the space vehicle faster already released by man. The probe's speed made it possible for it to reach the Moon in only 9 hours of travel, i.e. 8 times faster than the time taken by the mission Apollo, which led the man to Moon in 1969 after 3 long days of travel. At that speed, it would be possible to go from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro in about 20 seconds.

2 – A long journey

Even going faster than any other space vehicle ever built, the New Horizons it took mais de 9 anos to get to Pluto. the probe was launched in January 19, 2006 (when Pluto was still a planet), crossed almost the entire solar system, reaching its final destination in 14 July 2015.

3 – Ashes of memory

Alongside the instruments that helped to New Horizons to capture the most detailed images ever recorded of Pluto, there will be a very peculiar type of luggage: the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, the American astronomer who discovered Pluto at the beginning of the last century, who died in 1997.

a small container containing the ashes de Tombaugh is stuck in the roof of the New Horizons, with the inscription: “Here inside are the remains of the American Clyde W. Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto and the 'third zone' of the solar system, son of Adelle and Muron, husband of Patricia, father of Annette and Alden, astronomer, teacher, joker and friend: Clyde W. Tombaugh (1906-1997)".

4 - Atomic power

Solar panels are not useful in the outer reaches of the solar system, so the New Horizons works on the basis of a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). This type of generator uses plutonium-238 as a source of atomic fusion heat. This heat is used to produce a small amount of energy, which can efficiently power the probe systems, reaching a maximum power of approx. 300 watts.

5 – Always forward

There are no traditional rocket engines in the New Horizons. The initial launch provided more speed than the spacecraft needed to reach Pluto. Even so, the probe still carries a tank containing 77 kg of a monopropellant called hydrazine, that must provide fuel for the 16 thrusters distributed throughout the equipment. These devices do not need to be used all the time, being activated in occasional situations, such as trajectory corrections, for example.

6 – The most complex mission on PlayStation 1

One of the most curious facts about the New Horizons is in the fact that it is equipped with the same processor as the PlayStation 1. The CPU MIPS R3000 33,8688 MHz is identical to the popular console from the 1990s. On board the New Horizons, this processor is responsible for connecting the thrusters, monitoring sensors and transmitting data.

Although the spacecraft was launched in 2006 and the processor is more than 10 years old, the choice of NASA was planned and the space agency knew it was using a relatively outdated processor. The Agency didn't want speed, but a reliable chip, which had already passed through several tests and with a lot of resistance, and the MIPS R300 fit perfectly into this combination of factors.

7 – Extra strength

A New Horizons was launched in 2006 aboard the rocket Atlas. she traveled to Jupiter and used the gravity of that planet as a slingshot to accelerate its speed. After receiving a "push" from the gas giant's gravity force, the probe set off towards Pluto, to almost 90.000 km/h. Had it not been for this impulse, I would have taken 3 more years to get to Pluto.

8 - Dante's Inferno

A New Horizons captured a massive volcanic eruption at the north pole of Io, one of the moons of Jupiter, during the approach maneuver to the planet (when it passed through its orbit in 2007). Images of the eruption were taken by the probe's long-range reconnaissance camera, which identified activity at the moon's north pole, at the volcano. tvashtar.

9 - Houston, we have a problem!

About a week before da New Horizons find Pluto, the probe disappeared from the scanners da NASA. There was a beginning of panic for about 1 hour until the probe came back online in safe mode. What happened was a software malfunction that caused the system to crash.

10 – Even Famous, Still a Dwarf Planet

As much as the information that comes from Pluto be useful, one thing is certain: the mission of New Horizons won't do Pluto to be considered a planet. "What made Pluto a planet was precisely the lack of information on the subject. With the information from the mission, the dwarf planet rank should strengthen”, says the teacher Ivan Soares, from UnB.

11 – The novelty is red

One of the biggest surprises of the mission of the New Horizons was to find out that Mars has a small competitor in the Solar System – Pluto It is also reddish, contrary to what was thought. In previous images, it appeared to be a mixture of gray tones, almost blue in color.

12 – Permanent Winter

Pluto it's one of the places coldest in the solar system, mainly because it is so far from the sun. Surface temperatures oscillate around -225°C. Scientists believe that the dwarf planet is composed of 70% of rock and 30% of ice. The surface is predominantly covered with frozen nitrogen.

13 - The family grew

Unlike the EARTH, which has a single natural satellite, Pluto is orbited by 5 moons. The biggest and best known of them, Charon, has a diameter of 1,2 kilometers – quite small compared to our Moon (whose diameter reaches 3,4 thousand kilometers). The others were discovered more recently and have the size of relatively small asteroids. They are called Hidra (45 kilometers), nix (35 kilometers), cerberus e styx (The diameter of the last two, the smallest of the four, has not yet been confirmed).

14 – The Little Giant

He may be a dwarf, but the size indicated by the New Horizons exceeded estimates Scientists preview: Pluto also 2,3 thousand kilometers in diameter. Even though it's not even twice as big as Charon, the data confirmed the suspicion that the dimensions of the star surpass those of all others known objects beyond the orbit of Neptune.

Compared to the diameter of EARTH, or of Pluto corresponds to 18,5%, and the one of Charon a 9,5%. The question of the size of the two bodies been debated for decades, and in the case of the dwarf planet, the fact that it had an atmosphere made an accurate measurement even more difficult.

15 – Upwards and forwards

A New Horizons already distances itself from Pluto, but the mission is not over yet. If the NASA to secure additional funding for the mission, the spacecraft will use the remaining hydrazine in its thrusters to explore other bodies on Earth. Kuiper Girdle. The new meetings should take place between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019.

The reason for prolonging the mission is obvious. After all, these celestial bodies in the belt are true relics of the childhood of the solar system. Studying the properties of their surfaces, their geologies, internal compositions and atmospheres will allow us to answer open questions about this crucial period of formation. Not to mention the chance to better understand how these bodies relate to other planets.

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