The NASA probe passed 12,430 kilometers from the dwarf planet at a speed of 49,300 km / h.
Never before has a ship had come so close to dwarf planet to photograph and measure. Photo: Nasa
New Horizons has reached its destination and principal mission after more than 4,800 million kilometers and a nine and a half years for the first time a ship built by the human being has reached the edge of the solar system.
New Horizons was launched in 2006 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a journey of almost 10 years and some 5,000 million km.
The probe was awakened from hibernation of two years, on December 7, to pass new checks, send commands and orders and it ready for the science phase of the mission started this in January 2015.
On July 14 was marked as the phase of close encounter, the New Horizons passed only 12,430 km of Pluto, closer than expected, at a rate of more than 49,300 km / h, the highest achieved by any spacecraft ever built.
At 11 hours 48 minutes (GMT) the event was presented. “It’s time to celebrate, because we made the most of the way,” said New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern.
Experts explained that there is a possibility that the probe 10,000 can collide with debris space in the region near Neptune known as the Kuiper Belt.
According to Stern, the Kuiper Belt, the wide ring of debris surrounding the solar system evolves and where Pluto is “more or less a shooting gallery, where there are many small primordial comets and smaller than Pluto “objects.
Never before had ventured to ship the Kuiper Belt. “We’re flying into the unknown,” Stern said at a news conference Monday.
Former planet is far
Since the Voyager 2 flew by Neptune in 1989, no new planet had been investigated so closely.
The probe investigating Pluto has seven measuring instruments that allow you to analyze the composition of the atmosphere of Pluto, its geology, measure the temperature on the surface and take photos.
However, the former planet is so far away that, in the moment of encounter, radio signals, traveling at the speed of light, take four hours to travel the nearly 5,000 million kilometers separating the New Horizons Pluto and Earth, which could not follow the match live, and get results right away.
16 months would be required to recover all the material collected few hours for this historic flyby. “For years we plan these jacks and at this time, must be in the probe. We’ll just have to wait a bit to recover, “said Cathy Olkin, deputy director of the project.
What is expected of the mission
For now, the pioneering NASA mission has I could confirm the existence of polar ice on Pluto and found nitrogen escaping from the atmosphere, but more details are expected in the coming days.
Scientists can see the sunrise and sunset of Pluto, create a complete picture of the star and its five satellites, and will study the dust in the outer solar system and the atmosphere around Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.
“What is known so far Pluto probably fit in a couple of pages, “Stern said; however, “the data sent New Horizons, if all goes well-will allow text write whole books about this mysterious celestial body.”
Unprecedented for humanity
“A technological success which shows that space science is wonderful and reveals information objects that are out of sight of the human being “and described the event Carlos Duarte Munoz, General Coordinator of Human Capital in Space Camp Space Agency Mexicana (AEM).
“We’ve speculated a lot about Pluto and for many people this is something far removed from the real needs of the Earth, but history has always told us that these events eventually capitalized being on Earth “.
He assured that the event should be widespread and focused on children, to understand the place of our planet in the universe and its complexity,” this allows science and inspire vocations technology and know more about ourselves. “
today confirmed that although the AEM is directed toward the use of space with terrestrial applications, this does not mean that in the future Mexico does not participate in the exploration of the universe.
For now, said the relationship between NASA and the AEM is very close, “We have signed cooperation agreements that have allowed us to bring to Mexican students to this institution and thus participate in the development of new technologies; also participated in conducting materials for diffusion and dissemination of expeditions, technologies and new findings, do Spanish translations to disseminate both in Mexico and in Hispanic population in the United States, “he said. (With information from agencies)
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