New Horizons
Pluto Videos
Space Exploration Merit Badge Supplementals
(created Thr., Feb. 21, 2018; updated Good Friday April 19, 2019)
This is an extension of
the Space Exploration Merit Badge page.
PLUTO
♇
This page provides links to materials and videos about Pluto and NASA’s New Horizons Mission.
New Horizons which was the mission first to visit Pluto, on its July 14, 2015 flyby.
New Horizons has since visited the dwarf planet Ultima Thule, on December 31, 2018.
The information on this page is NOT required for the Space Exploration Merit Badge.
The information on this page is shared to provide additional insights into the exploration of Pluto and to encourage enthusiasm about all that is exciting about the exploring the universe beyond our planet, in person and through unmanned spacecraft.
Pluto...
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-Our ninth planet, discovered in 1930, ...
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-“demoted” in 2006,
(through what appears to have been a personal dislike for Clyde Tombaugh) ... -
-and now properly recognized as a third category of planets...
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-1) rocky planets like the inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
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-2) gas giants like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
and -
-3) dwarf planets like Pluto and Eris, which are smaller and likely far outnumber all other planet types.
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-Yes, there are different kinds / types of planets, just like there are different kinds / types of stars... with their own wide variety of sizes, colors, temperatures, etc.
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-has been visited by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft.
This group of pages is dedicated to sharing all the interest and excitement of what it took to learn what we now know about Pluto... knowledge gained by the strong dedication and commitment of the New Horizons mission team and all who supported them in their efforts.efforts.
This specific page shares some of the many insights we have learned about Pluto and its moons thanks to the New Horizons mission.
PLUTO
♇
image source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html
After a nine-year journey, which started with the fastest-ever departure from Earth’s orbit - 34,500 mph / miles per hour, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto on July 14, 2015.
NASA’s New Horizons page has an amazing wealth of information about our discoveries of the only American-discovered planet / dwarf planet / planetoid / plutoid.
U.S. Postal Service Stamp Series, “Views of Our Planets,” 2016
image source: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/14-0_usps16sta023h.jpg
image source: https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2016/pb22440/html/info_006.htm
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft rendezvoused with Pluto July 14, 2015.
New Horizons is now looking to encounter KBO / Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 on January 1, 2019:
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20151105
You can monitor its progress en route with the App:
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/new-horizons-nasa-voyage-to/id473217882
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=requio.com_newhorizons
“It’s Pluto Time” app: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/plutotime/
And see also the “NASA Eyes” app, to track New Horizons and other spacecraft: http://eyes.nasa.gov
Additional Pluto Resources:
“Pluto in a Minute” YouTube series:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7yXXCSR3_UB12gNWETiygA
Three Astronomy Magazine New Horizons cover stories
July, 2015:
http://www.astronomy.com/issues/2015/july-2015
&
Web Extra: Pluto probe promises spectacular surprises
February, 2015:
http://www.astronomy.com/magazine/press-releases/2014/12/february-2015
The NASA/JPL app tracking its progress:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/new-horizons-nasa-voyage-to/id473217882
July, 2010:
http://www.astronomy.com/issues/2010/july-2010
What do we know about Pluto’s axis of rotation?
http://cseligman.com/text/planets/plutorot.htm
Did any St. Louisans play a role in the New Horizons mission?
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2015/07/16/two-from-st-louis-involved-in-nasas-new-horizons-spacecraft/
image source: http://cdn.images.dailystar.co.uk/dynamic/122/photos/207000/900x738/261207.jpg
Pluto and Charon rotation movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHNvp6QJ_Eo
New Horizons...
Also the name of our Boy Scouts of America - Greater St. Louis Area Council District - the New Horizons District!
These are all of the links to the Astronomy Merit Badge pages:
Astronomy Merit Badge - Extra “Fun Facts”
Astronomy - Great American Eclipse
Astronomy - Great American Eclipse 2017
These are all of the links to the Space Exploration Merit Badge pages:
New Horizons - Mission Overview
New Horizons - Pluto Resources
All images were scanned directly from the magazine using the Halo Scanner Mouse - http://shop.halo2cloud.com/collections/computer-and-backup/products/scanner-mouse, which I received as a Christmas present from my mother in 2013.
Regardless your desire to pursue a career in space exploration, it is hoped that you learned enough about exploring space through this merit badge to at least be interested to continuously look up at the sky in awe and wonder, and think about what you may want to explore if you were to go “out there” or were to send a probe “out there.”
If you pursue with enthusiastic interest, that’s great. If you do make a career in the field, GREAT.
May all be better off having completed your Space Exploration Merit Badge than you were before you started.
