NASA probe new horizons powers up Ok
Discussion
After 9 years 3 billion miles away.
Its going to examine Pluto.
AN AMERICAN probe that will explore Pluto has woken from its slumber, after a nine-year journey to take a close look at the distant body for the first time.
“New Horizons is healthy and cruising quietly through deep space, nearly three billion miles from home, but its rest is nearly over,” said Alice Bowman, the craft’s operations manager at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory outside Washington.
The probe came out of hibernation on Saturday and transmitted a message to Earth.
New Horizons was launched in January 2006 and was in hibernation for about two thirds of its journey, to preserve its electric power and minimise resources needed to monitor it.
During its trip, NASA engineers woke the craft every few months to check if its systems were still functioning.
The craft’s computer has also been sending a weekly message to Earth that takes four hours to arrive.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/its-awak...
Its going to examine Pluto.
AN AMERICAN probe that will explore Pluto has woken from its slumber, after a nine-year journey to take a close look at the distant body for the first time.
“New Horizons is healthy and cruising quietly through deep space, nearly three billion miles from home, but its rest is nearly over,” said Alice Bowman, the craft’s operations manager at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory outside Washington.
The probe came out of hibernation on Saturday and transmitted a message to Earth.
New Horizons was launched in January 2006 and was in hibernation for about two thirds of its journey, to preserve its electric power and minimise resources needed to monitor it.
During its trip, NASA engineers woke the craft every few months to check if its systems were still functioning.
The craft’s computer has also been sending a weekly message to Earth that takes four hours to arrive.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/its-awak...
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