Pluto in a Minute: New Horizons is Going Dark for Flyby

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New Horizons is flying by Pluto on Tuesday, July 14! But we won't hear a word from it... This is Pluto in a Minute.

After nine and a half years and 3.26 billion miles, New Horizons is finally making its closest flyby of Pluto tomorrow, on Tuesday July 14, but, the spacecraft will be silent all day. Because, of all the moving part on New Horizons, the antenna is not one of them. The New Horizons spacecraft features a large dish antenna, and when its facing the Earth it can do one of two things: it can either receive commands as an uplink or downlink data for scientists to analyze. However, because the antenna can't move, the spacecraft can ever be pointing its antenna towards the Earth or looking at Pluto to take observations. In short, the antenna can't go like this, so the entire spacecraft has to go like this.

And because the spacecraft is going to be really close to Pluto for just about 22 hours, the mission team decided they much rather it be gathering data than talk to the Earth.

And the spacecraft is going to be doing a lot of looking. The New Horizons spacecraft will gather spectroscopic data as well as colour images as well as hi-res black and white images. So, when it does talk to the Earth again after the flyby, we're going to have some amazing views of Pluto.

For more on Pluto be sure to check out the New Horizons websites and tweet your questions with the hashtag #PlutoFlyby. And come back here tomorrow for more Pluto in a Minute.

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Think about it: a 9 years trip to reach Pluto just to gather some data before vanishing in the dark... we are very far from human exploring the space himself aboard spaceships that can reach other planets !
I love Sci-Fi, but when it becomes real, it's really amazing !
Anyways it's a success, another small/big step for humanity.
Congratulations to the team, can't wait to see those brand new images of Pluto.

supermahmoud

NASA you beast!👏👏😍😍🏆🏆🌟💯 amazing images and discoveries from Pluto, thank you New Horizons✨👋👋💜

belllarosa

FYI: The audio in this video is panning left and right a few times a second making it unlistenable on headphones. Hope you can fix that. Thanks.

JamesSwiftStuff

she's so cute I'd even watch "Pluto in a Decade" only to see her talk for 10 years straight

lucapirilli

All the very best to your scientists who've devoted their careers to this. I've been hanging out for this but not like you. Ladies and gentlement you rock!

sammyfromsydney

Keep these videos coming Please! (I love Amy's energy!)

serafinsilva

I loved the demonstration of the antenna motion. 😂😂

chetanphoenix

Followed this Mission for the last 4 years, ever looking forward, ever anticipating... to see a planet (even a dwarf one) in a new light is so exciting. So i am also little bit disappointed that we gotta wait a little longer than i excepted for the first data of the flyby.

Nonetheless, going to be an exciting week for sure.

FinalplayerRyu

Slow it down some miss, and turn down your volume; and you damn kids get off my grass.

iaagg

I watched the countdown and then find out I have to wait 22 hours. Oh well. This will make me learn patience.

deoproximo

Terrific, fast paced, informative videos. Amy Teitel is a perfect, upbeat announcer.

wrieznerstrasse

Only IF it survives that shot through Pluto's complex gravitational environment with all these moons an potential debris...

SilvanWespi

We'll get the bulk of the data immediately following the flyby. Afterwards, the spacecraft will slowdown its upload speed over the next several months to a year or so and relay all the tiny bits of information. Don't worry people, we won't have to wait another 10 years for a real closeup of our favorite dwarf planet. :D

parkermccaskell

I've noticed there is a bit of distortion in the audio

awesomusmaximus

It's sad, that most interesting features and complex surface structures are on the farther side of Pluto. That big white heart isn't too promising... Biggest bad luck of the 21st century. Still there is Charon, rising star!

marcinhubert