>>> LIVE FROM THE JOHNS HOPKINS APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY IN
LAUREL, MARYLAND, WELCOME TO NASA'S NEW HORIZONS COUNTDOWN TO
PLUTO.
I'M MIKE BUCKLEY FROM PUBLIC AFFAIRS JOINED BY DWAYNE BROWN
FROM NASA'S OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION.
WELCOME.
>> IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE, MIKE.
SINCE ITS LAUNCH IN 2006, NEW HORIZONS HAS TRAVELED TO THE FAR
REACHES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
WHEN NEW HORIZONS PASSES BY PLUTO, IT WILL BE NEARLY 3.6
BILLION, THAT'S WITH A "B," MILES FROM HOME.
NEW HORIZONS JOINS OTHER NASA SPACECRAFT UNRAVELING MYSTERIES
IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND TO HOPEFULLY ANSWER HOW DID OUR
SOLAR SYSTEM ORIGINATE AND CHANGE OUR TIME, HOW DID THE
UNIVERSE BEGIN EVOLVE, AND WHAT WILL BE ITS DESTINY, HOW DID
LIFE ORIGINATE, AND ARE WE ALONE.
NASA HAS THE SPACECRAFT EXPLORING TO ANSWER THESE
QUESTIONS BECAUSE WE'RE OUT THERE.
NEW HORIZONS IS ALREADY SENDING BACK THE MOST DETAILED IMAGE AND
MEASUREMENTS EVER TAKEN OF PLUTO AND ITS MOONS, REVEALING
SIGNIFICANT NEW INSIGHTS ABOUT THE DWARF PLANET.
BUT THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
SCIENTISTS WILL SEE EVEN MORE CLEAR DETAIL SINCE THE
SPACECRAFT DRAWS NEARER TO ITS DESTINATION.
AND NOT ONLY CAN YOU GET THE LATEST IMAGES, SCIENCE FINDING,
AND MISSION UPDATES HERE ON NASA TELEVISION FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL
DAYS, JOIN THE CONVERSATION VIA TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND OTHER
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TALKING ABOUT THE HISTORIC JULY 14th
FLY-BY.
SEND QUESTIONS AT #PLUTOFLYBY.
AND OF COURSE, ALL MISSION INFORMATION AND IMAGES ARE
AVAILABLE AT WWW.NASA.GOV/NEWHORIZONS.
MIKE, I'VE BEEN DEALING WITH SPACE MISSIONS FOR 30 YEARS.
I AM SO JUICED, PSYCHED TO SHARE THE SET WITH YOU THESE NEXT
SEVERAL DAYS.
PART OF HISTORY IS PRETTY COOL.
>> IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT RIDE.
WE'RE COUNTING DOWN TO NEW HORIZONS'S HISTORIC FLY BY THE
SOLAR SYSTEM.
WE'RE THREE DAYS AWAY, HALF A PLUTO DAY, AND HALF A MILLION
MILES FROM LIEUTENANT OH.
SO FAR THIS HAS BEEN AN INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE.
>> FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO -- WE HAVE IGNITION AND LIFTOFF OF
NASA'S NEW HORIZONS SPACECRAFT ON A DECADES' LONG VOYAGE.
>> BACK WITH US NEW HORIZONS OPERATION MANAGER, ALICE BOWMAN,
FROM THE REMOTE CENTER AT APL.
ALICE, GOOD MORNING.
>> HI, MIKE.
>> STRAIGHT UP, HOW IS NEW HORIZONS DOING?
>> OH, THE SPACECRAFT IS DOING GREAT.
IT'S TAKING LOTS OF SCIENCE DATA AND SENTENCING ALL BACK TO
EARTH.
>> LET'S LOOK INSIDE THE MISSION OPERATION CENTER, AND IF WE CAN
-- TELL US WHAT'S THE TEAM UP TO?
ARE WE IN CONTACT WITH NEW HORIZONS?
>> WE ARE IN CONTACT WITH NEW HORIZONS.
WE'RE ACTUALLY UP WITH THE 70-METER STATION AT CAMBERRA.
THIS MORNING WE GOT DOWN OPTICAL NAVIGATION DATA, WE PROCESSED
THAT AND SENT IT OVER TO THE NAVIGATION G&C, SORRY, GUNS AND
CONTROL TEAMS, AND SCIENCE OPERATION TEAMS.
THOSE TEAMS ARE PROCESSING THAT DATA.
ABOUT 9:00 THIS MORNING, WE SENT AN UPLINK SIGNAL TO THE REX
EXPERIMENT ON BOARD THE SPACECRAFT FOR AN OBSERVATION
THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN ABOUT 1:30 THIS AFTERNOON.
>> ALICE, DWAYNE, WELCOME.
YOU KNOW, THE WORLD IS REALLY EXCITED, EXCITING TIMES, HOW
DOES THE TEAM FEEL?
>> OH, THE TEAM IS JUST JAZZED FOR THIS.
WE CAN'T WAIT.
WE'RE USED TO SEEING NUMBERS ON OUR SCREENS IN THE MISSION
OPERATIONS CENTER.
IT'S JUST FANTASTIC TO SEE THOSE NUMBERS TURN INTO IMAGES AND
SPECTRA.
>> LET'S -- WHAT'S SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES, WHAT'S THE TEAM UP
TO THE NEXT DAY OR SO?
>> WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO GET DOWN OPTICAL NAVIGATION
DATA.
WE'RE GOING TO GET DOWN SOME PLASMA DATA.
AND WE'RE GOING TO BE WAITING TO SEE IF WE NEED TO DO A KNOWLEDGE
UPDATE.
>> BUSY TIME.
BUSY TIME GETTING CLOSE.
>> THANKS, ALICE.
>> EXCITING.
>> YOU KNOW, ALICE'S TEAM HAS ITS EYES ON NEW HORIZONS.
WHAT'S ANOTHER COOL WAY TO FOLLOW WHAT THE SPACECRAFT IS --
THE SPACECRAFT IS UP TO?
HERE'S AN ANSWER.
>> DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN RIDE ALONG WITH NEW HORIZONS?
YOU CAN.
THIS IS PLUTO IN A MINUTE.
>> ALL RIGHT.
SO YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY HITCH A RIDE WITH NEW HORIZONS TO PLUTO,
BUT YOU CAN DO -- PLUTO, BUT YOU CAN DO THE NEXT BEST THING,
FOLLOW IN REAL TIME WITH A SIMULATION CALLED "EYES ON
PLUTO."
PART OF "EYES ON THE SOLAR SYSTEM" FROM NASA'S JET
PROPULSION LABORATORY, AN AMAZING VIEW OF EVERYTHING IN
THE SOLAR SYSTEM NOW INCLUDING MISSIONS LIKE NEW HORIZONS.
THE PROGRAM FOLLOWS A PREDICTED SIMULATION.
THAT IS, IT FOLLOWS THE TRAJECTORY AND POINTING OF THE
SPACECRAFT AS IT IS PLANNED FOR NOMINAL SITUATION.
USING THE DATA FROM THE NEW HORIZONS TEAM, THE TEAM HAS
CREATED A BEAUTIFUL SIMULATION OF WHAT EXACTLY NEW HORIZONS IS
SEEING RIGHT NOW.
BUT IT'S SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST A SHOT OF PLUTO AND MOONS MOVING
TOWARD THE CAMERA, I.E., YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN.
SHOWS WHAT INSTRUMENT ON THE SPACECRAFT ARE WORKING AND WHEN
AND WHAT THEIR TARGET IS AND EXACTLY WHERE THEY'RE SHOOTING
AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
YOU SEE WHEN THE CAMERA IS TAKING PICTURES, WHEN THE
INSTRUMENTS ARE TURNED ON, AND WHEN THE SPACECRAFT IS TURNED
WITH ITS ANTENNA FACING THE EARTH TO BEAM BACK DATA.
YOU CAN EVEN SEE THE SPACE AT WHICH THE CAMERAS AND
INSTRUMENTS ARE AIMED.
IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW ALONG IN REAL TIME OR CHECK OUT THE
FLY-BY SEQUENCE NOW BECAUSE YOU CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE 14th, GO TO
EYES.NASA.GOV AND DOWNLOAD "EYES ON PLUTO."
FOR MORE, CHECK OUT THE NEW HORIZONS WEBSITE.
YOU CAN GO TO FLY BY AND COME BACK HERE EVERY DAY FOR MORE
"PLUTO IN A MINUTE."
>> JOINING US FOR THE SCIENCE UPDATE IS JOHN SPENCER, A NEW
HORIZONS CO-INVESTIGATOR FROM SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE.
JOHN WELCOME TO THE COUNTDOWN.
>> THANK YOU, MIKE.
>> I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT YOU LED THE NEW HORIZONS HAZARDOUS
INVESTIGATION TEAM WHICH I GUESS HAD A BUSY IF NOT EVENTFUL AND
SUSPENSEFUL SEVEN WEEKS OVER MAY AND JUNE.
TELL US WHAT THAT INVESTIGATION WAS ABOUT.
>> SURE.
WE'D BEEN LOOKING FOR MANY YEARS AT THE PLUTO SYSTEM WITH THE
HUBBLE TELESCOPE, THE BEST VIEWS WE COULD GET BEFORE NEW
HORIZONS.
AND IT SEEMED LIKE THE CLOSER WE LOOKED WITH HUBBLE, THE MORE
MOONS WE FOUND.
WE FOUND A COUPLE IN 2005.
THIS IS -- AS WELL AS THE BIG MOON THAT WE'VE KNOWN ABOUT FOR
A LONG TIME.
AND THEN WE WENT BACK IN 2011, FOUND ANOTHER MOON, AND IN 2012
WE WENT BACK AND FOUND A FIFTH MOON, STYX.
AND THAT WAS ABOUT AS HARD AS WE COULD LOOK WITH THE HUBBLE
TELESCOPE.
WE WERE CONCERNED THAT EVERY TIME WE LOOKED CLOSER WE'D FIND
MORE MOONS.
MAYBE THERE'S A GAZILLION MOONS THERE.
WE MIGHT NOT RUN INTO THE MOON BUT THE DEBRIS THAT WOULD BE
EJECTED BY METEORITE COLLISIONS BECAUSE THEY'RE GOING SO FAST,
IT COULD CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE SPACECRAFT.
SO OUR PLAN HAS BEEN THAT AS WE APPROACH PLUTO, WE WOULD TAKE A
SERIES OF VERY LONG EXPOSURE PICTURES OVER A COUPLE OF
MONTHS, AS SOON AS WE WERE CLOSE ENOUGH THAT WE COULD DO BETTER
THAN HUBBLE HAD DONE AND SEE IF WE COULD SEE ANYTHING ELSE.
WE DID THAT.
WE STARTED IN MAY AND FINISHED JUST OVER A WEEK AGO TAKING
CLOSER AND CLOSER PICTURES WITH VERY LONG EXPOSURES AND RAPIDLY
ANALYZING THEM TO SEE IF WE MIGHT SEE ANY NEW MOONS THAT
MIGHT BE DANGEROUS TO THE SPACECRAFT.
AND WE FOUND NOTHING.
WE WERE ABLE TO SAY THAT THERE WERE PROBABLY NO MOONS ANY
BRIGHTER THAN 10, 20, 30 TIMES FAINTER THAN STYX IN THE SYSTEM.
THERE MIGHT BE TINY STUFF, BUT IT WOULD BE LESS THAN A MILE
ACROSS.
>> I'LL POINT OUT FIRST THAT THE TEAM -- YOU HAD PLANS IN PLACE,
BACKUP PLANS IN PLACE HAD YOU SEEN SOMETHING THAT NEW HORIZONS
COULD HAVE GONE ON ANOTHER PATH OR TURNED THE SPACECRAFT TO
PROTECT ITSELF HAD YOU FOUND†-- >> RIGHT.
WE HAD ALTERNATIVES, BUT WE PREFERRED TO STICK WITH THE
NOMINAL PLAN BECAUSE THAT WAS THE BEST AND GIVE US THE BEST
SCIENCE.
WE'RE VERY HAPPY THAT WE CAN CONTINUE AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED
AND GET THE BEST SCIENCE WE POSSIBLY CAN FROM THE PLUTO
SYSTEM.
>> I'M CURIOUS THAT YOU SAID -- YOU KNOW, ABOUT NOT FINDING
MOONS, SEEING THEM, AND THERE WAS PROBABLY TALK FROM THE TEAM
WOULD WE FIND SOMETHING OR NOT.
YOU DIDN'T FIND ANY MORE MOONS.
WERE YOU SURPRISED?
>> I WAS SURPRISED.
I EXPECTED WE'D FIND AT LEAST A COUPLE.
THIS IS TOTALLY UNKNOWN TERRITORY.
THE PLUTO SYSTEM IS NOWHERE WE'VE EVER BEEN DVR.
WE'VE NEVER BEEN TO -- BEEN BEFORE.
WE'VE NEVER BEEN TO ANYTHING LIKE THE SYSTEM BEFORE.
WE'RE LEARNING WHAT THE RULES ARE.
AND THE RULES SEEM TO BE BIG MOONS AND -- NOT MANY SMALLER
ONES.
AND WE'RE LEARNING SOMETHING ALREADY.
>> LET'S TALK ABOUT PLUTO AND SHARON.
YOU GUYS ARE FINISHING THE HAZARDS SEARCH.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE IMAGES?
>> OH, MY GOODNESS.
IT'S AMAZING WHAT WE'RE SEEING NOW.
IT WAS A GRADUAL APPROACH, AND EVERY PICTURE OF JUST A LITTLE
BETTER.
NOW EVERY DAY, WE SEE A WHOLE NEW VIEW OF PLUTO TELLING US
THING WE NEVER KNEW BEFORE.
AND WE'RE SEEING CRAZY BLACK AND WHITE PATTERNS.
WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THOSE MEAN.
AND WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF CIRCULAR THINGS AND WONDERING
ARE THOSE CRATERS OR SOMETHING ELSE.
WE SAW CIRCULAR FEATURES ON NEPTUNE'S MOON TRITAN THAT ARE
NOT CRATER.
WE SHOULD KNOW IN A FEW DAYS.
NOW WE'RE HAVING AN AWFUL LOT OF FUN SPECULATING, WHAT DO YOU
THINK THAT IS, WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT IS.
AND IT'S AMAZING.
>> EXCELLENT.
>> JOHN, THANKS.
>> THANK YOU, JOHN.
>> PLUTO IS UNUSUALLY DIFFICULT TO STUDY FROM EARTH BECAUSE IT
IS SO SMALL AND FAR AWAY.
COULD MISSION RESULTS PROVIDE ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM FORMED?
LET'S HEAR FROM SOMEONE WHO CAN'T WAIT TO SEE PLUTO UP CLOSE
AND PERSONAL.
>> HI, I'M JAMES GREEN, I'M THE DIRECTOR OF THE PLANETARY
SCIENCE DIVISION AT NASA HEADQUARTERS.
AND THE NEW HORIZONS MISSION IS WITHIN MY ORGANIZATION.
>> WE HAVE IGNITION AND LIFTOFF OF NASA'S NEW HORIZONS
SPACECRAFT ON A DECADES' LONG VOYAGE TO VISIT THE PLANET PLUTO
AND THEN BEYOND.
>> NEW HORIZONS IS SPEEDING TOWARD PLUTO AT A PHENOMENAL
RATE, 14 KILOMETERS PER SECOND, BUT YET IT HAS TAKEN YEARS TO
GET TO PLUTO.
WE CAN'T WAIT FOR IT TO GET THERE.
NOW PLUTO AND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF IT IS REALLY CHANGING OUR
VIEW OF THE SIZE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
IN FACT, THE 1990s WE BEGAN TO OBSERVE PLUTO-LIKE OBJECTS WELL
BEYOND PLUTO.
WE KNOW PLUTO IS ONE OF A FAMILY OF OBJECTS, WE CALL THOSE
OBJECTS HYPERBELT.
IN FACT, T THE OUTER -- IT IS THE OUTER SOLAR.
IS FOR THE FIRST TIME WE'LL BE ABLE TO FLY BY A BRAND NEW
OBJECT.
AN OBJECT THAT'S BEEN FORMING FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS AND
UNDERSTAND WHAT OUTER PARTS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM ARE ALL IT.
NASA MISSIONS AND NEW HORIZONS IS NO DIFFERENT, REQUIRE
EXCEPTIONAL INDIVIDUALS.
IN FACT, THERE'S SO MANY HEROIC PEOPLE THAT HAVE GONE IN TO
MAKING THIS MISSION POSSIBLE, IT'S -- IT'S AN UNBELIEVABLE
VENTURE.
BUT IT IS REALLY THE UNITED STATES THAT HAS BEEN THE LEADER
IN THE OUTER PLANETS' EXPLORATION PROGRAM.
THE UNITED STATES IS THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT HAS SENT MISSIONS
INTO THE OUTER PART OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.
PLANETARY SCIENCE REALLY PROVIDES I THINK A TREMENDOUS
VALUE TO OUR COUNTRY.
A PLANET IT'S STILL KIND OF COOL
FAR AWAY FAR AWAY
>> WELL, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO BRING OUR YOUNG STUDENTS ALONG.
WE WANT THEM TO STEP INTO OUR SHOES.
WE DON'T WANT THE EXPLORATION TO STOP.
IT'S JUST ONE OF THE INNATE THINGS THAT WE HAVE IN THE
UNITED STATES, I BELIEVE, IS THIS EXPLORATION GENE.
WHILE I BELIEVE THE ENCOUNTER OF PLUTO WITH THE NEW HORIZONS
FLY-BY IS GOING TO BE SO SPECTACULAR, WE'LL HAVE THE
WORLD'S ATTENTION.
AND NOT JUST FOR A LITTLE BIT.
I BELIEVE IT WILL BE BUILT UP OVER MANY MONTHS AS WE BEGIN TO
OBSERVE PLUTO, ITS MOONS.
WE MAY EVEN FIND MANY MORE OBJECTS, PERHAPS RINGS, PERHAPS
OTHER THINGS AWAITING OUR DISCOVERY.
I THINK THE WORLD WILL SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE.
>> HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR PLUTO TIME?
THIS IS THE MOMENT DURING DAWN AND DUSK EACH DAY WHEN THE
ILLUMINATION ON EARTH MATCHES THAT WAS HIGH NOON ON PLUTO.
AND NASA WANTS TO SEE WHAT PLUTO TIME LOOKS LIKE IN YOUR AREA.
VISIT THE WEBSITE AND TAG YOUR PHOTOS WITH THE HASH TAG
#PLUTOTIME.
>> AND AS WE COUNT DOWN TO A HISTORIC MOMENT FOR OUR NATION
AND THE NATION'S SPACE PROGRAM, DON'T FORGET YOU CAN GET THE
LATEST IMAGES, SCIENCE FINDINGS, AND MISSION UPDATES HERE ON NASA
TELEVISION OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.
AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION VIA TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND OTHER
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TALKING ABOUT THE HISTORIC JULY 14th
FLY-BY.
AND YES, SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS AT #PLUTOFLYBY, AND GO TO
NASA.GOV/NEWHORIZONS.
IF YOU'RE A FAN OF 3D TOYS, MAKE YOU LIKE THEM, I CERTAINLY LIKE
THEM, YOU CAN GO ON LINE, THERE'S A ONE-STOP SITE FOR 3D
MODELS, IMAGES, VISUALIZATIONS ALL FREE.
MIKE, THAT'S THE PRICE EVERYONE CAN BE HAPPY WITH.
>> I KNOW.
THERE'S SO MUCH ON THERE.
MAKE ONE, MAKE SOME OTHERS, TOO, TO GET READY FOR THE FLY-BY.
DO IT OURSELVES.
THAT'S THE LATEST FROM NASA'S NEW HORIZONS MISSION ON PLUTO'S
DOORSTEP.
WE ARE THREE DAYS AND TWO MILLION MILES TO GO UNTIL THE
FLY-BY, AND THE COUNTDOWN TO PLUTO IS WINDING DOWN.
I'M MIKE BUCKLEY.
>> I'M DWAYNE BROWN.
>> THANKS FOR WATCHING.
>> Operator: PLUTO.