# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/141 "2015-07-17T09:22:58Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > [Latest pic of Hydra.](http://images.clipartpanda.com/donald-duck-clip-art-donald.duck.face.gif) :smack: At least it wasn’t a rickroll. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/142 "2015-07-17T09:33:07Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Not radar, but they have New Horizons echo back a timing signal sent out from Earth and they know to about a millionth of a second just how long the round trip takes- even taking Relativity into account. Indeed, it’s intriguing that currently time can be directly measured more accurately than any other physical value. nm ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/143 "2015-07-17T12:08:13Z")
Who ordered the mountain in a moat? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/144 "2015-07-17T12:16:50Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > Who ordered the mountain in a moat? Slartibartfast ---
**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:** [July 17, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/145 "2015-07-17T14:21:01Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Slartibartfast Then where are the fjords? ---
**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 17, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/146 "2015-07-17T16:46:38Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Then where are the fjords? Between the Chjevies and the Hjondas. ---
**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 17, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/147 "2015-07-17T17:51:30Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Then where are the fjords? I’m pining for them. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/148 "2015-07-17T17:54:52Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Between the Chjevies and the Hjondas. Fipty-seben Chjevies? ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/149 "2015-07-17T17:58:11Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Then where are the fjords? What could be more baroque than a fjord that circles back on itself? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/150 "2015-07-17T18:03:04Z")
Given how often we hear of stupid assed “OMG, half buried statue on Mars!” and similar bullshit based on pics from the Mars rovers, I’m actually surprised not to have seen any “OMG, Alien Battle Fleet parked on Pluto!” conspiracy nonsense yet. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/151 "2015-07-17T18:03:55Z")
Pluto’s Heart has [varicose veins in its plains.](http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-new-horizons-discovers-frozen-plains-in-the-heart-of-pluto-s-heart) ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/152 "2015-07-17T18:11:05Z")
New updates: Nix is… another [tiny irregular lump of a moon](http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/homing-in-on-nix-plutos-small-satellite). And possibly rather grumpy about getting its picture taken. Charon’s the one with the [mountain in the moat](http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/new-horizons-close-up-of-charon-s-mountain-in-a-moat). Pluto’s “heart” is made of [frozen plains](http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-new-horizons-discovers-frozen-plains-in-the-heart-of-pluto-s-heart) of [carbon monoxide ice](http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/frozen-carbon-monoxide-in-pluto-s-heart). ---
**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:** [July 17, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/153 "2015-07-17T21:38:25Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Given how often we hear of stupid assed “OMG, half buried statue on Mars!” and similar bullshit based on pics from the Mars rovers, I’m actually surprised not to have seen any “OMG, Alien Battle Fleet parked on Pluto!” conspiracy nonsense yet. I had this idea that Pluto/Charon would have been a logical place for aliens (hypothetical extraterrestrials, not "UFO"s) to leave a marker for us to find, if and when the human race ever got serious about space exploration to go out that far. > [@lazybratsche](#): > > Pluto’s “heart” is made of \<\> [carbon monoxide ice](http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/frozen-carbon-monoxide-in-pluto-s-heart). Due to poorly ventilated furnaces? Well it is pretty cold there… ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/154 "2015-07-17T21:56:21Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I had this idea that Pluto/Charon would have been a logical place for aliens (hypothetical extraterrestrials, not "UFO"s) to leave a marker for us to find, if and when the human race ever got serious about space exploration to go out that far. > > Due to poorly ventilated furnaces? Well it is pretty cold there… I don’t think so. Pluto is just one of many Kuiper belt objects. The most unique thing about it is that we discovered it and mistook it for something unique. There’s no reason that aliens would see it as anything that we’d scrutinize any more than a number of other objects. One of the gas giants would be more likely, or maybe Mars or the far side of the Moon. Not that I expect to find any messages from aliens in our solar system, at least not deliberate messages from intelligent aliens. Bio-signatures of microscopic life wouldn’t be too shocking, but would likely be much closer to the sun. ---
**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 18, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/155 "2015-07-18T00:11:22Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Kudos to you, Hypno-Toad. You said you would do it and you did. 100% awesome. The weird part is that I revived this thread while sitting in the same spot that I was in when I started it. ---
**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 18, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/156 "2015-07-18T01:38:01Z")
It must have been strange to be one of the team members at the start – it would be like, “you can get started on your major research project in around nine years, maybe, if all goes well – meanwhile find something to busy yourself with”! And there was some definite probability that New Horizons would simply go silent at some point and never be heard from again. If that had happened, we’d never even know why. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2015, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/157 "2015-07-18T06:50:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It must have been strange to be one of the team members at the start – it would be like, “you can get started on your major research project in around nine years, maybe, if all goes well – meanwhile find something to busy yourself with”! And there was some definite probability that New Horizons would simply go silent at some point and never be heard from again. If that had happened, we’d never even know why. Such things have happened. ---
**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 18, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/158 "2015-07-18T17:34:05Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > :smack: > > At least it wasn’t a rickroll. Hey, [post #40](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18513780&postcount=40) started it. 😉 ---
**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 18, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/159 "2015-07-18T18:03:21Z")
Watched both the Discovery and Nova specials. Each had a significant amount of pre-production with the latest bits added on the day before air. Nova went with a linear delivery and added the latest stuff on the end; Discovery was a bit more like a newscast with ‘packages’ of premade stories bonded together with cutins, standups and interviews from the event throughout the show. Overall I liked the Nova better (it’s hard to argue with their quality production value) but both were informative and interesting. ---
**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 19, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695/160 "2015-07-19T01:02:55Z")
The range in the lower lattitudes are called the “Norgay Montes”. Odd. I thought most of the names were supposed to be dark, sinister or evil, was he dark, sinister or evil? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluto-probe-on-its-way/340695.md?page=9)