Brains On! Science podcast for kids Mission to Pluto!
Jul 10, 2015
Dr. Alan Stern, leader of NASA's mission to Pluto, talks about the progress and surprises of the New Horizons mission. The podcast also discusses the time travel adventure to witness the launch and invites listeners to participate in a New Horizons quiz.
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Alan Stern's Two Decades On The Pluto Mission
- Alan Stern describes his long personal involvement with the New Horizons mission from planning through launch.
- He worked on Pluto mission studies for over a decade, started New Horizons in 2001, and led it through the 2006 Florida launch and 3+ billion mile trek.
Fastest Spacecraft Traveled Billions To Pluto
- New Horizons was the fastest spacecraft ever launched and traveled over 3 billion miles to reach Pluto.
- The spacecraft will fly between Pluto and its largest moon on July 14, 2015, then download so much data it will take over a year to send it all back.
Flyby Data Will Take Years To Fully Return
- Data volume from a close planetary flyby can exceed immediate downlink capacity, stretching return over years.
- New Horizons will start downloading July 15, 2015, but the full dataset will take well over a year to reach Earth.