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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Новые Горизонты http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1337862/eng |
Credit & Copyright: National Space Society
Explanation:
In three weeks, the robotic New Horizons spacecraft will reach Pluto.
As the
featured video
makes clear, though, humanity has been on an unprecedented
epoch of robotic exploration of
our Solar System's planets for the past half century.
The video highlights artistic illustrations of
Mariner 2 flying by Venus in 1962,
Mariner 4 flying past Mars in 1965,
Pioneer 10 flying past
Jupiter in 1973,
Mariner 10 flying past
Mercury in 1974,
Pioneer 11 flying past
Saturn in 1979, and
Voyager
2 flying past
Uranus in 1986 and then
Neptune in 1989.
Next is a hypothetical sequence depicting
New Horizons flying past Pluto next month.
Assuming things works as planned,
dwarf planet
Pluto will then become the
farthest world yet explored by humans.
Of course, these
Pluto illustrations are only a guess.
How Pluto and its moons will really look may be a mixture of familiar things, such
as
craters, and unfamiliar things, such as
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.