PLUTO REVEALS ITSELF
THIS WEEK TO NASA PROBE

       Our first and only close up view of famous dwarf planet Pluto will happen Tuesday, July 14, and the Space Age will have taken 58 years to reveal the faces of all the Solar System’s major members.

       Pluto is the last of the classic nine planets to show its face, and as you read this NASA’s New Horizons gets closer by 32,000 miles every hour.

       On July 14, New Horizons will begin its closest approach that will have it traveling 30,000 mph through the Pluto system that includes its large moon Charon and four tiny ones.  At a closest approach of just 8,000 miles, the spacecraft will be busy taking photos, measuring the atmosphere and making other measurements with seven instruments. Pluto is knocked over on its side (like Uranus) and the approach of New Horizons to the dwarf planet and its moons will be like flying through a bull’s-eye.

New Horizon spacecraft...the size of a Grand Piano   NASA artwork

       The first photos and data will take more than more than 9 hours to travel the 4 billion miles distance between Pluto and Earth.  But 85 years after its discovery, the wait will be worth it.

       Since May 2015 New Horizons has been sending back new photos across the millions of miles, each batch reveals details that tantalize astronomers anxious for the close-ups. Each day the nuclear-powered New Horizons has become 744,000 miles closer—the nine-year journey for the 1,000 pound spacecraft shaped like a grand piano is almost over. Here’s what we’ve learned about Pluto in the last 60 days from the $700,000 investment by US taxpayers in the last 60 days about Pluto:

·      Pluto is 1,471 miles wide; while moon Charon is 750 miles wide (our Moon is 2,190 miles in diameter) Astronomers are surprised that each is extremely different in appearance.

·      Pluto has two distinct faces, one dark and one bright. There appear to be several large craters, and a thin atmosphere of super-cold methane (-200 F.) might mean there are clouds. And there is a series of four, equally spaced dark circles maybe 300 miles in diameter around the equator that have created speculation from volcanoes to alien origins.

·      Charon has a dark polar cap, and is grayish. It also shows sign of some large craters. The other four moons, Kerberos, Styx, Nix and Hydra, will have to await the close encounter to be revealed.     

·      From the distance of four billion miles from the Sun is just a bright star, daylight on Pluto is similar to late twilight on Earth.

PLUTO and CHARON two hemispheres

       The controversy over Pluto’s demotion from planet status—though logical—is not going away, particularly with these new images giving the dwarf planet some character.

       New Horizons was launched in January 2006, when Pluto was still a planet.  But that changed in Prague, Czech Republic, at a meeting of the 1,600-member International Astronomical Union, the governing body that officially names celestial objects, among other duties. 

       Because there have been so many Pluto-size objects discovered beyond Pluto 4 billion miles away in the Kuiper Belt, the IAU met with a dilemma in 2006—add four or five new planets, or demote Pluto and create a new class of objects like it. The Kuiper Belt contains perhaps hundreds of thousands of rock and ice objects that were leftovers of the creation up to 10 billion miles from the Sun.

       The IAU opted for the demotion, and for Pluto supporters—named after a deity of Hyades—all hell broke loose!  Many astronomers and science educators still refuse to acknowledge the IAU's dwarf status for Pluto

       Also changing its status to dwarf planet is the largest asteroid, Ceres, orbiting in a ring of rubble between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres, 700 miles wide, is the only round object in the asteroid belt, is currently being orbited by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft.

       Beyond Pluto are dwarf planets Eris and Quaoar, each more than 2,000 miles wide. And another dozen dwarf planets have been discovered in the 1,000 mile range. 

       The fact that Pluto has five moons is reason enough to call it a planet, some say.  So, it is reasonable to think that other dwarf planets will also have moons.  Pluto's big moon, Charon, was discovered in 1978, and orbits extremely close at just 12,000 miles above the surface! They are in fact a “binary planet” revolving around a point outside the center of Pluto.  The other two 20-mile-wide moons, Nix and Hydra were discovered by the Hubble Telescope in 2005, and 10 miles moons Kerberos and Styx were found by Hubble in 2012.

CLYDE TOMBAUGH and DISCOVERY PLATES

       Many supporters of the planetary status for Pluto are endeared to its popular discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh, and the man who first began seeking “Planet X,” wealthy socialite Percival Lowell. Known for his promotion of the canals on Mars in a series of popular books in the early 1900s, Lowell theorized that Neptune was being gravitationally pulled by an unseen Planet X.  He employed Tombaugh in 1927 to begin a search mission, and the humble astronomer discovered Pluto in the constellation Gemini in 1930 as a result of a tedious search of photographic plates.

       The discovery of Pluto was big news, it doubled the size of the Solar System, and the planet was at first thought to be as large as the Earth.  Tombaugh became famous as the third human to discover a planet (William Herschel in England discovered Uranus in 1781 and J.G. Galle in Germany first confirmed Neptune in 1846.) He later developed military optical tracking cameras for rocket launches. But he was always accessible to amateur astronomers at his Albuquerque, New Mexico home.

       When he died in 1997, he was an icon among the astronomy community, and often toured regions of the country, autographing posters and books at star parties and Pluto lectures.

       And the memory of Clyde Tombaugh is likely to live on for many more years as some of the astronomer's ashes are being carried aboard the New Horizon spaceship bound for Pluto. 

       When blasted off the USA Cape Kennedy Space Port on Jan. 19, 2006, New Horizon was the fastest spacecraft to leave Earth at some 25,000 mph, passing the Moon in just 9 hours—a trip that took 72 hours for Apollo astronauts.

       July 15, 2015 will be an historic day for planetary astronomers as the first close-up images of Pluto will complete the photo gallery of the traditional Solar System. 

       The only detailed images of Uranus and Neptune (and some of their moons) are courtesy of the Voyager 2 flybys in 1986 and 1989, respectively.  Soon Pluto, a planet for 66 years and a dwarf planet for the last nine years, will have a face.

       Websites to keep up with the latest include: nasa.gov; seeplutonow.com; dailypluto.com; spacedaily.com; space.com; universetoday.com; facebook/New Horizons and spaceweather.com.

Jupiter and Venus in Incredible Conjunction

       Something extraordinary is happening right now in the evening sky after sunset that in another millennium would have the world turned upside down.

       It is somewhat amazing to me that there isn’t some minor hysteria and wild predictions as what might happen during the next two weeks of celestial “magic.”

       Because what’s going on in the stars after sunset is something that demanded attention thousands of years ago, and now it is being completely ignored except for the brethren of amateur astronomers poised to capture the event with their cameras.

       Just what am I talking about?

       Something no less than what might be the return appearance of the famous Star of Bethlehem…and I’m not kidding!

       On the night of Wednesday, June 30, 2015, the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, will seem to merge as one star to the naked eye—exactly what happened on the night of June 17, 2 BC.

Jupiter, top, and Venus
photo by MarQ

       This “super” conjunction of the two planets that have been characterized as the King and Queen of many ancient mythologies has been one solid explanation for the most famous star of all, the Star of Bethlehem.  In our only source, the Bible Book of Mathew says guided “Wise Men” from the Far East to the manger in Bethlehem where the Christian Messiah was born. 

       Both the conjunction 2015 and 2 BC occurred in the regal constellation Leo the Lion, near the bright yellow star Regulus, known as the “Regal One.”

This might be the event that triggered a clan of wise skywatchers from Persia to saddle up the caravan and travel the 600 miles to a town called Bethlehem and an infant named Jesus.

       This beautiful night sky event has been playing out in our pre-Summer nights, just like they did 2,017 years ago. To the ancient cultures these god-like planets chased each other in the Zodiac house of stars that was considered the place for laws and royalty.

Venus below Pollux and Castor
Photo by MarQ

       Yes, amateur astronomers have been watching for six months the convergence of Venus towards Jupiter, with the bright yellow star Regulas nearby. Called a “conjunction” in astronomy talk, the meaning is when two celestial bodies are in the same proximity of the sky, usually within 5 degrees of each other. Five degrees is the distance an arm-length human fist covers in the sky, of the distance between the pointer stars of the Big Dipper.   

While Jupiter and Venus are near each other about every eight years, it is a rare event centuries apart that will have both planets visible in the same low power eyepiece of a telescope for a few hours.

The separation will be less than the width of the Moon, which is one-half degree—or the width of your outstretched pinky finger. During the conjunction of 2 BC, the planets were even closer, Venus nearly covering up Jupiter.  

       Though close in the sky, it is a line-of-sight perspective as the planets are actually more than 500 million miles apart.  Venus is close to the Earth at about 20 million miles away while Jupiter is on the other side of the Sun 600 million miles away and a month away from going behind our star and popping back up in the morning sky. 

       It was just a little more than 2,000 years ago that ancient star watchers also observed with fascination as the brilliant white Venus kept moving upward to the gold Jupiter under the scrutiny of nearby Regulus.  The significance was even more impressive to the ancient stargazers as the quick moving Mercury moved in and out of the scene during the two months of celestial cat-and-mouse in 

the Spring of 2 BC. 

       In the 21^st Century we know that Jupiter is coincidentally the largest of the eight planets and named after the King of the Gods in Roman mythology.  And Venus is shrouded in clouds, giving it a pearly white and bright appearance that the ancients associated with virginity and birth.  Leo the Lion was one of 12 constellations where the planets, Moon and Sun are always found, and each was thought as a celestial house of influence on the lives of man. Leo was an authority figure and lawgiver in the ancient minds of astrology.

       This month’s spectacular conjunction of the two brightest planets is silently ignored by the astrologers of our millennium.  But 2,000 years ago there would be a buzz in the civilized lands about the King of the Gods being visited by the Queen of Fertility, and the news about it being reported by swift, mythical messenger Mercury.

       In fact, this dance of the special wandering stars among the royal house of the favored constellations had to be watched even more intently by the ancient Zoastrian priests of the ancient world.  For centuries they had been looking for signs in the sky that a Messiah of the Hebrews would be born, as predicted in ancient teachings from prophets like Abraham and Moses.

       And when the King and Queen of the night stars merged into one star for a few brief hours on June 17, 2 BC, skywatchers interpreted it as a sign from their God, and thus the famous story of the Bible’s Gospel of Matthew unfolded.

       But the reaction in the 21^st Century is quite blasé.  There are no religious outcries that I can find anywhere on the Internet.  No wacko groups are professing that the end of the world is near.  I can’t find any predictions of the return of Jesus.  Nor any apocalyptic predictions of famine, drought or pestilence. 

       Gee, anybody remember Y2K fears of a computer melt-down? Or how about in 1997 Heaven’s Gate? There were 39 members of the cult who committed suicide in matching outfits and Nike shoes. They believed they were catching a ride to eternity aboard spaceship following Comet Hale-Bopp!

       Really? A re-creation of what could have been the most famous star in history—THE Star of Bethlehem and nobody wants a piece of it?  I can’t find a decent tabloid on the newsstands, any mention in the UFO magazine rack or any special discounts at the corner Palm Reader’s shack. 

       This beautiful conjunction of Venus and Jupiter is only talked about in the usual monthly publications of Astronomy and Sky & Telescope, as well as the 2015 almanacs and calendars of celestial events.

       Venus has been jumping up from the horizon to met Jupiter before it begins dropping back down to swing into the morning sky by the early Autumn.  Jupiter slips behind the Sun in August. In the September 2015, the planetary pair will dazzle the pre-dawn skies into morning twilight.

       Any doubters about the similarity of these conjunctions 2,017 years apart? You can check it out for yourself by downloading the popular desktop planetarium program, Stellarium.org.  It is free and takes about five minutes to install on your computer.   

       What will be amazing about this event should be the photos taken of both planets in the same field of view.  Venus will have a gibbous phase and be a little bigger than Jupiter with its squashed poles with several wide, dark bands of clouds cutting across the globe.  Jupiter will have three moons on one side and one on the other of its easily visible four moons discovered by Galileo.

       To prepare for any photos, or just to enjoy the peak of the conjunction on the night of June 30^th, pay attention to where the planets are as they set over the upcoming nights. 

       You’ll have a ring-side seat to see celestial mechanics as played out by the laws of physics. 

It might not be a time for the return of any Messiah, but you can certainly enjoy the spirituality of the event with a knowledge that surpasses anybody living two millennia ago. 

       I’ll be watching, of course.  And just in case I can hitch a ride somewhere that night, I’ll be wearing my sneakers.

       

NASA’s DARKEST WEEK 

HAS SILVER LINING

       NASA's darkest week in its history ends with the lessons learned orbiting Earth in the incredible International Space Station.

       Within a week, NASA and space watchers mourn the loss of 17 brave spaceflight pioneers. It's just a coincidence that the sorrow of three American space fatalities is relived over such a short span of time. 

The mistakes causing the fatal disasters are well-known human blunders when looking with hindsight.  Acknowledged and corrected, there always lurks another failure that will, someday, claim the lives of more space travelers.

NASA's first astronaut fatalities in a spacecraft occurred during rehearsals on the launch pad when Apollo 1 caught fire and killed three spacemen eventually bound for the Moon.   That occurred on Jan. 27, 1967—48 years ago.

       Incredibly, 29 years have passed since the launch explosion of Shuttle Challenger claimed the lives of seven astronauts on Jan. 28^th.  The dead included the Teacher-In-Space winner Christa McAuliffe. The 1986 space disaster was one of those “Where were you when?” events of a generation.

And the last NASA space fatality was 12 years ago on Feb. 1 when during reentry from a successful mission Space Shuttle Columbia was ripped apart over East Texas and Western Louisiana as it approached Kennedy Space Port for landing in Florida. Seven astronauts were killed, including Israel’s first astronaut and war hero Ilan Ramone.

       The Russian Space Program has claimed four lives in spacecraft during flight.  A cosmonaut died when a parachute failed after reentry of Soyuz 1 in 1967, and three cosmonauts suffocated when a valve opened during the reentry of Soyuz 11 in 1971.  But they’ve had their share of close calls, including a 1997 fire on their space station Mir.

       The newest player in human space flight, China, has safely launched 10 “taikonauts” on five spaceflights, including two women. Their small space station was occupied twice, and the world awaits the next Chinese space mission as they have boasted of going to the Moon.

       The American disasters could have been avoided and no doubt adversely affected those who were in charge:

Gus Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee

·      The Apollo 1 fire occurred on the launch pad during a routine test.  Bare wires created a spark that ignited the 100 per cent oxygen cabin, creating a fire that suffocated Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. 

    They died trying to open the hatch that normally took several minutes to unscrew.  Among the hundreds of changes to the Apollo spacecraft, the new hatch could be opened in less than 30 seconds.

Jarvis, Onizuki, McNair, Resnick, McAuliffe, Smith, Scoobee

·      Space Shuttle Challenger was doomed at liftoff when an O-ring seal broke on one of the segments of the right solid rocket booster, sending out flames like a blow touch that blew up the fuel tank just 70 seconds into launch as America watched on television.  Freezing temperatures compromised the  integrity of the rubber O-ring causing concern from technicians, but launch officials proceeded with the 9 am blastoff on a chilly Florida morning with a fatal outcome. The other astronauts who gave their lives on the 25th Shuttle launch were Commander Dick Scobee, pilot Mike Smith and mission specialists Christa McAuliffe, Judy Resnick, Ellison Onizuka, Ron McNair and Gregory Jarvis.

front: Chawla, Husband, Clark, Ramon; back: Brown, McCool, Anderson

·      Columbia was also doomed at liftoff when a suitcase-size chunk of insulation flaked off the huge, orange external fuel tank, busting a hole in the left wing. The damage was suspected by some technicians but not confirmed by orbiting spy satellites, though a request was made. And astronauts on board couldn’t see the wings out their windows. The 17-day science mission in the SpaceHab module in the cargo bay—planned without any spacewalks which might have seen the damage—was perfect.  That is until the fiery reentry penetrated the fist-size hole in the wig, starting the break-up of the Shuttle over California at the supersonic speed of 5,000-plus mph just minutes before landing. The astronauts who perished were Commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Israeli Ilan Ramon. 

       After 54 years of spaceflight, that probably isn't too bad of a track record.  All counted the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flights total 30 space flights. Add the 135 Shuttle flights and that makes for 165 American blast offs, and only two failures.  That is just a 1.2 per cent failure rate, not bad for the most complicated machines ever made by man.

There have been several astronaut deaths in NASA aircraft, and even car wrecks. There is also a short list of technicians who died in accidents at NASA facilities. 

       What is incredible is that more people haven't died in the construction of the International Space Station. Taking 12 years to build and taking 35 Space Shuttle missions, a couple dozen Soyuz flights and another dozen unmanned ferry spacecraft, there have been no mishaps.  And the more than 150 spacewalks necessary to put it all together have also been error free.     

       As of Feb. 1. 2015, there have been 538 people who have orbited Earth.  The total time spent in space by humans is more than 125 years!  Add to the safety record the more than 300 spacewalks and 12 men walking on the Moon and it’s clear that all the intensive training and heavily tested spacecrafts have paid off in conquering outer space. 

Mercury 7 Astronauts 1960

Astronauts and cosmonauts are not heroes anymore. It's the human side of astronauts that have given them their new anonymity.  And in many ways, an astronaut is just a cool job, like an airline pilot or a boat captain. 

     Americans knew the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts by name.  Their missions, and sometimes their families, frequently appeared in newspaper and magazine stories. 

       Astronauts stopped being heroes when the Apollo 13 crew returned to Earth from their near-death disaster on the way to the Moon in April 1970. The Hollywood movie “Apollo 13” accurately portrayed the drama after the crippling explosion on the way to the Moon and made astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert household names to movie lovers.

        For the tremendous risk of space travel, astronauts aren’t paid as well as you might think. The paycheck of an astronaut is on par with that of other civil servants like firemen and policemen.  Many cash in on their fame after retirement—everybody loves hanging out with an astronaut! 

       At the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida is the giant mirror Memorial Wall to the fallen heroes of space travel. Their names are etched and illuminated for remembrance of the eternal light that shines on the manned space program. 

       Throughout America, public school buildings have been named for Grissom, McAuliffe and most of the other astronauts who've given their lives to push the envelope of manned space exploration.

       NASA and Russia have been good at minimizing fatalities and injuries during half a Century of human space flight.  The manned hours in space has been accumulated to into experience that has been used to

build the amazing International Space Station.

       The ISS, built over 12 years beginning in 1998 with more than 50 separate manned Shuttle and Soyuz rocket launches, has been a completed space laboratory for 5 years.  Making 17 orbits of the Earth every day, the space laboratory has united 16 nations of the world in a goal that took diplomatic cooperation as well as coordination in space construction. 

       And keeping ISS alive and well are men and women who have trained for years to spend three to six months in outer space, performing important science. Six people make up the three Expedition crews a year rotated out three at a time by the Russian’s Soyuz spaceship. In March 2015, an American and Russian be launched to spend a full year on the ISS, and the world will get to know space veterans Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko on their long mission.

       With six people doing their jobs in relative anonymity, all is well aboard the ISS. But the next moment something goes awry, that is when you'll know another astronaut or cosmonaut by face and name. 

       Let's hope there isn't a fatality involved.