# Pluto Probe on it's way **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695 "2006-01-19T19:08:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/21 "2015-06-05T00:03:20Z")
The history on this board is really incredible. I wonder on what other board would a thread be started in 2006, with a promise to revive it in 9 years, and actually have it happen? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/22 "2015-06-05T00:44:01Z")
I meant to mention this back in 2006, but I got busy. Better late than never. **Its** , NOT it’s. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/23 "2015-06-05T00:45:17Z")
“This image of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon,” Wow! Even in that tiny image its really damn clear! Heck of a great camera on that probe - especially when you consider how dated the technology is. ( 🙂 on that technology part) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/24 "2015-06-05T00:45:58Z")
I’m still looking to make book on the probe spotting a tether linking Pluto and Charon. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/25 "2015-06-05T02:20:46Z")
I wager 500 quatloos against there being a tether. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/26 "2015-06-05T13:51:11Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I meant to mention this back in 2006, but I got busy. Better late than never. > > **Its** , NOT it’s. Ah, zombie nitpicks are the best. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/27 "2015-06-05T14:19:40Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Ah, zombie nitpicks are the best. Yeah, waiting over 9 years to pick it is super satisfying! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/28 "2015-06-05T14:42:57Z")
[Obligatory xkcd](http://xkcd.com/1532/) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/29 "2015-07-13T12:06:18Z")
[Getting even closer.](http://www.forbes.com/sites/bridaineparnell/2015/07/13/chasms-craters-and-cliffs-the-pluto-mysteries-new-horizons-will-soon-solve/) Can finally make out something other than just a blurry disc. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/30 "2015-07-13T12:25:03Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I think I’ll take her picture holding the newspaper with this article. It’ll be a nice reference when we’re reading about it’s arrival. Holy crap, I barely even remember writing that. I was reading the paper about the probe yesterday and that the primary computer conked out last week and telemetry suddenly stopped, sending controllers into a panic. Due to the incredible distance it had happened 4.5 hours previously, as it took that long for the signal to arrive. They changed frequency to the back-up, sent another signal and 9 hours later got word they were back in business, only days before their very brief, one time flyby. For reference it takes about a second for signals to travel back and forth to the moon. That Pluto probe is _out_ there. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/31 "2015-07-13T13:26:17Z")
4.5 hours each way? Unacceptable; they should have rigged it to use the subspace frequencies. Amateurs. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/32 "2015-07-13T14:46:01Z")
Headed to the press conference now will update. NASA - NEW HORIZONS - PLUTO - NASA is inviting media to cover the New Horizons spacecraft’s closest approach and July 14 Pluto flyby from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, site of the mission operations center. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/33 "2015-07-13T14:49:24Z")
So NASA spent a billion dollars to fly over Disneyland and take pictures of a cartoon dog – another damn liberal waste of money! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/34 "2015-07-13T15:00:02Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > So NASA spent a billion dollars to fly over Disneyland and take pictures of a cartoon dog – another damn liberal waste of money! Truly Goofy. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/35 "2015-07-13T15:37:04Z")
Why would it be beige? It just seems like such an odd color for a remote and mysterious world. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/36 "2015-07-13T15:51:07Z")
Many of us are probably looking forward to a wealth of exciting imagery as it makes its flyby, and hopefully we’ll see some interesting stuff fairly soon, but alas, it looks like patience will be the order of the day. It turns out that Pluto has really lousy Internet service (and you wouldn’t believe the monthly fees!). I believe the downlink from New Horizons at that range is a mere 1 Kbit/s. Hi-res images, especially with color information, are going to take a while, not to mention all the other scientific data. I think I read somewhere that the thing is going to be interrogated for something like 16 months afterwards, as it flies off to hopefully rendezvous with a further Kuiper belt object – with the Internet service getting crappier than ever. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/37 "2015-07-13T17:20:22Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > So NASA spent a billion dollars to fly over Disneyland and take pictures of a cartoon dog – another damn liberal waste of money! I hate when they fund these mickey mouse bullshit projects. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/38 "2015-07-13T17:26:39Z")
so… this thread isn’t so much a zombie as a time capsule that we just opened? A message from the past to the [del]future[/del] now. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/39 "2015-07-13T17:30:38Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Why would it be beige? It just seems like such an odd color for a remote and mysterious world. Well, apparently, [the universe is beige](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_latte), on average. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/40 "2015-07-13T17:47:53Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I hate when they fund these mickey mouse bullshit projects. [Latest photo](http://pre09.deviantart.net/e9a6/th/pre/i/2013/296/7/5/pluto_the_dog_by_awesomephoenix-d6rl4m5.jpg) of the surface. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695.md?page=3)