Tagged: space

We get signal: New Horizons’ first science data payload

Last night, the New Horizons team received a signal from the probe containing a data payload that was mostly engineering data–systems status, telemetry…basically, phoning home letting Mom know it was doing just fine after its busy day flying by Pluto and taking lots of pictures and scientific measurements. This morning, from about 7:00 – 8:25 am ET, they received the first payload of those pictures and measurements. This payload will include three very high-resolution, greyscale images in which each pixel represents a quarter mile. Beginning at 3:25 pm, more data will start streaming in. But this is only the beginning–it...

New Horizons Pluto mission is up there with the moon landing in American space achievement

If ever there were a perfect use for the phrase, “I can’t even,” this is it. Today we saw a high-resolution picture of a world over a billion miles away, taken by a small probe launched nine years ago on a mission that has been over 25 years in the making. And oh, yeah, that tiny probe not only took pictures, but it (presumably) took a variety of scientific readings, passing just 7,500 miles from Pluto. That’s less than the average diameter of the Earth. In astronomical terms, that’s CLOSE. I hardly have words for how absolutely awesome it is...

Another reason why Georgia Tech is better than your school

We get space shuttle flyovers before our football games. Three Georgia Tech grads will have the ultimate nosebleed seats for pre-game activities before their alma mater’s big football game with Miami tonight. They’re aboard space shuttle Endeavour, which is scheduled to be above Atlanta about 6:10 p.m., according to the school. The shuttle will track from southwest to northeast and look like a very bright moving star. From the center of campus, look kind of in the direction of the CRC (southwest) and trace up toward the direction of the Coliseum (northeast). If you’re in Home Park, looking toward the...