Closest look at Pluto yet
- Thread starter GK4Herd
- Start date
Not really an interest of mine, but the fact that we can get these pictures from that far away and with such clarity is pretty amazing.
The new mages will continue to get better as the data trickles in from New Horizon. It is a nine to sixteen month process depending on what article you read. We'll be getting new and better pictures for another 6 months to a year. The thing that strikes me is I wish we would plan another moon mission so we could use today's technology to witness the whole experience in high def. I can remember crowding around the TV set in 1969 as a child to witness the grainy images being sent back from the moon. It would be a different experience today.
From the way I took it is because of the amount of data that is needed for the higher resolution stuff and how long it takes to transmit all that information. NASA used a smaller radio antennae that is used in both the photographing and transmission of the data back to Earth. It has to point the antennae at Pluto as it makes its pass then it literally has to turn New Horizons around to transmit it back to us.
Remember, New Horizons was launched in 2006 and it took nearly ten years to reach Pluto. The technology used wasn't even the best technology of that time. What was used was simple and designed to withstand the stress of that ten year flight. So...the best of the photography won't be here till next year sometime.
Here's an excerpt from a Times article on the photography of New Horizons...
How long does it take to get an image back from the space craft?
Jeff Moore: In order to keep the mission economical so that NASA would have the resources to pay for [it], we did a few things such as using a relatively small radio antenna on the space craft. And we also bolted everything onto the space craft without any moving parts.
That means several things. When the space craft collects data, it usually does not have its antenna pointed at the Earth – the space craft has to reorient itself back to Earth to transmit data.
Also, at the distance of Pluto, we can only send data back at a rate that’s comparable with an old 1990s modem. Because of that, during the encounter, we’ll be taking many, many pictures, but those pictures will all be stored on the solid state memory and radioed back to the Earth months after the encounter.
Much of our best and most interesting data isn’t going to be seen until this fall or early next year. Of course we’re going to send back some very interesting high priority data during the days of the encounter itself.
How long does it take to get an image back from the space craft?
Jeff Moore: In order to keep the mission economical so that NASA would have the resources to pay for [it], we did a few things such as using a relatively small radio antenna on the space craft. And we also bolted everything onto the space craft without any moving parts.
That means several things. When the space craft collects data, it usually does not have its antenna pointed at the Earth – the space craft has to reorient itself back to Earth to transmit data.
Also, at the distance of Pluto, we can only send data back at a rate that’s comparable with an old 1990s modem. Because of that, during the encounter, we’ll be taking many, many pictures, but those pictures will all be stored on the solid state memory and radioed back to the Earth months after the encounter.
Much of our best and most interesting data isn’t going to be seen until this fall or early next year. Of course we’re going to send back some very interesting high priority data during the days of the encounter itself.
Not sure if you're serious or having fun, but no....I just like looking at stuff that's never been viewed by a living being...ever. That's cool to me...undulated or not.
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