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- [Voiceover] The fastest spacecraft ever
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to leave the Earth.
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A nine-year marathon
crossing three billion miles
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to see a mysterious world
lurking in deep space.
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- Is it alive, or is it completely frozen?
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- [Voiceover] They have only
one shot to get it right.
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- So there'll be a little
bit of tension in the air.
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- [Voiceover] Through unknown peril.
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- If New Horizons were
to hit something as small
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as a grain of rice, it would be game over.
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- [Voiceover] History will be made.
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And we are there.
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- We've hit the motherlode
of fascinating objects
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in this particular mission.
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- [Voiceover] Our destination is Pluto
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and the Kuiper Belt beyond.
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This Atlas V rocket is about to launch
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a very special mission.
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- [Voiceover] Three, two, one.
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We have ignition and liftoff!
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(rockets faintly blaring)
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- [Voiceover] This is the
New Horizons Spacecraft.
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It's on a voyage to the
last unexplored planet
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in our Solar System:
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Pluto.
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But nearly two-thirds of its journey
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is in a state of suspended animation.
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All instruments not
essential to navigation
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and flight control are turned off.
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This preserves the battery
and reduces wear on equipment.
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New Horizons has had 18
naps since its launch;
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each ranging from 36 to 202 days long.
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That's roughly two
in-flight naps per year.
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During each nap, the
spacecraft sends a beacon tone
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once a week to let its
friends back on Earth
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know that all's well.
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But this is the last nap
New Horizons will take
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before it makes history.
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- We really have never been
to a planet like Pluto before.
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It is the farthest foot
fall that any humans
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have ever made on another shore
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to go and explore a small planet
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three billion miles from Earth.
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- It's an incredibly pristine body
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in the sense that it's
experienced relatively little
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evolution over the four
and a half billion years
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that the Solar System
has been in existence.
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- [Voiceover] It is a
geologic time capsule.
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- Pluto happens to be a
linchpin for understanding
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the formation of our Solar System.
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And some of the most important questions
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that we can ask as 21st-Century
planetary astronomers
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have to do with how the
Pluto System formed.
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- [Voiceover] A clue
might be found in Pluto's
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oversized moon, Charon,
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about the size of the state of Texas,
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and roughly 10% the mass of Pluto itself.
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Its sheer size suggests something about
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the formation of Pluto,
something terrifying and violent.
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- The best models we have
so far indicate that Charon
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was formed in a titanic
collision between Pluto
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and another formerly-existent planet
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that smashed into it billions of years ago
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and spalled material into orbit
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that coalesced to form Charon
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and probably the other satellites as well.
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- [Voiceover] Pluto
marks the inner boundary
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of a vast realm at the
edge of our Solar System,
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populated by chunks of ice and rock.
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Some are as large as Pluto itself.
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- So it's most probable
that these icy planets,
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like Pluto, are actually
objects that formed
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in the outer Solar
System in great numbers;
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most of which are gone today
for one reason or another.
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And the ones that we see are the relics
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of what was formerly a
much larger population.
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- [Voiceover] New Horizons is
mankind's first reconnaissance
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of this outer region of our Solar System.
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Pluto is the probe's first destination.
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We are roughly four
and a half months away.
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- When we pass through the Pluto System
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we're gonna be going very deep.
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We're gonna get in closer than
any of the satellites' orbit.
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In fact, we're gonna pass about halfway
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between where Charon
orbits the innermost moon
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and where Pluto is.
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So we're gonna be way down among 'em
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and taking great data the whole way.
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- [Voiceover] New Horizons
has a long to-do list,
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but its goals are simple:
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reveal the geology and
landforms of Pluto and Charon,
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map the surface composition,
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and analyze the atmosphere
and determine its escape rate.
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- What kinds of geological
features are on the surface?
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Is it alive in terms of
eruptions or tectonism,
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or volcanism, or who knows what?
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Or is it completely shut-down and frozen?
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- [Voiceover] Ever since its discovery,
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Pluto has been a place of mystery.
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In 1929, a Kansas farm boy with a talent
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for building homemade telescopes
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starts a new job at the Lowell Observatory
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near Flagstaff, Arizona.
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That farm boy is Clyde Tombaugh,
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and his task is to help
locate a hypothetical planet
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thought to exist beyond
the orbit of Neptune.
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He uses a machine called
a blink comparator.
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This lets a person compare images taken
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on two different evenings.
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Any object that has changed
its location won't be a star,
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it will be a planet.
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In 1930, Tombaugh discovers Planet X.
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And at the suggestion of an
11-year-old English girl,
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Venetia Phair Burney,
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Planet X is given a new name
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in honor of the Roman god
of the underworld, Pluto.
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For the next 75 years,
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Pluto is classified as the ninth planet.
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Finally, in 2006, the New
Horizons Mission is launched.
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But a strange controversy begins
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just six months after launch.
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For many, it challenges our notion
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of just what a planet actually is.
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- Then this gets into the whole debate
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of whether Pluto was a planet or not.
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Pluto has been labeled a dwarf planet.
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- [Voiceover] In 2006,
Pluto is recategorized;
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in the eyes of some, demoted.
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A controversy is born.
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- People ask me all the
time about this controversy.
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And the first thing that I tell them is,
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is that it was really started by people
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who are non-experts in the field.
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- [Voiceover] Most
people think astronomers
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and planetary scientists are
in the same line of work.
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That's only true in the same sense
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that a dentist and a brain
surgeon are both doctors.
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- Really, most astronomers
don't know very much
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about planets; they're not experts in it;
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they don't go to the technical meetings.
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And so the controversy
was started by non-experts
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in the field who happen
to get the microphone.
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- I think an object should
be classified as a planet
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based upon its intrinsic
properties, not where it is.
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Pluto was demoted from planethood
because of where it is.
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Its orbit intersects the orbit of Neptune.
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And according to the IU definition,
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a planet has to have swept
out its orbit of debris.
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And since it hasn't removed
Neptune from its orbit,
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it's not a planet.
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But by that definition,
if you took the Earth
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and substituted the Earth for Pluto,
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the Earth would not be a planet.
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So that's telling you
there's something wrong
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with that definition.
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- [Voiceover] What fuels
the controversy even further
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is the growing number of
planet-sized bodies beyond Pluto;
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at least one is bigger than Pluto.
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Is it a planet too?
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- We thought there were only nine;
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but the final answer is
probably closer to 900.
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- [Voiceover] 900 planets
in our Solar System.
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But the debate about Pluto's
status is a double-edged sword.
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- In some respects, it's
very helpful because
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it attracts people's interest to astronomy
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and to planetary science by
wondering for themselves:
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"Is Pluto a planet?"
by their own criteria.
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But the other side of that
sword is it is very unfortunate
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what happened in Prague in 2006
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in that meeting of the astronomers
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because they took a vote.
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- The recommendation is
that we consider Pluto
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to be in a special class.
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- [Voiceover] More than
2500 astronomers attend that
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fateful meeting of the
International Astronomical Union.
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Yet, by the time the vote was
taken, most had already left.
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Less than 17% of the attendees
were on hand to vote.
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The problem is that the voting
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should never have occurred
in the first place.
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- Those who are in favor of Resolution 6A,
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which introduces this new category
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of trans-neptunian objects
with Pluto as a prototype.
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- [Man] Votes don't work
very well in science.
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Because for many people,
I think you convince them
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that science is arbitrary.
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- [Man] Those abstaining.
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- [Man] That things like,
let's say, evolution
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or global climate change are arbitrary
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and are decided by voting
instead of by data.
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- 237 in favor;
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157 opposed.
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- They should never have done it.
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I think it sets science back.
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It may have been the
worst pedagogical moment
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for science in recent
memory and in past decades.
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- [Voiceover] It's hard to
imagine that the exploration
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of a planet at the far
end of our Solar System
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can create such turmoil here on Earth.
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New Horizons is already
on its final approach.
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A lot has changed since that
fiery liftoff nine years ago.
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Then, there is the discovery
of Pluto's moonlets
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00:11:00,844 --> 00:11:03,473
and the realization that
Pluto may be surrounded
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00:11:03,473 --> 00:11:05,141
by uncharted shoals.
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00:11:09,659 --> 00:11:12,408
In fact, Pluto is now dead ahead.
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For the first time in history,
Pluto is no longer a dot.
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April ninth, onboard cameras captured
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the first color image ever made
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of the Pluto System by a
spacecraft on approach.
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Even at this distance, distinct
differences can be seen.
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Images taken by Lorri early to mid-April
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from within 70 million miles
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already reveal broad surface markings.
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00:11:49,253 --> 00:11:52,707
Lorri uses less power than a
string of Christmas lights,
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00:11:52,707 --> 00:11:55,958
yet captures images in black and white.
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00:11:56,976 --> 00:11:59,211
Ralph is a color-imaging camera
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that is able to capture
images in light levels
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00:12:01,608 --> 00:12:04,908
a thousand times lower than on Earth,
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00:12:04,908 --> 00:12:09,306
allowing it to map the
night side of Pluto.
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00:12:09,306 --> 00:12:12,151
Ralph can also see in the infrared,
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00:12:12,151 --> 00:12:14,515
the same as night-vision goggles.
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This allows it to see heat sources.
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00:12:17,484 --> 00:12:20,207
And as a spectroscope, Ralph can discover
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00:12:20,207 --> 00:12:23,173
what the surface is made of.
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But two more instruments
will let us sniff around
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00:12:26,593 --> 00:12:28,342
and even get a taste.
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00:12:29,806 --> 00:12:33,972
PEPSSI will serve as our
extended nose, sniffing the air.
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00:12:36,682 --> 00:12:39,850
SWAP looks at the way solar rays interact
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00:12:39,850 --> 00:12:41,517
with the atmosphere.
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00:12:43,061 --> 00:12:45,181
- About 10 weeks before we get to Pluto,
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we can beat Hubble resolution,
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00:12:46,805 --> 00:12:49,004
and all the way in do better and better;
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00:12:49,004 --> 00:12:50,838
which helps us turn this encounter
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from a simple weekend at Pluto
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00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,407
into a long study of the Pluto System.
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00:12:57,629 --> 00:12:59,541
- [Voiceover] Before New Horizons,
236
00:12:59,541 --> 00:13:02,426
our best views came from Hubble images,
237
00:13:02,426 --> 00:13:05,150
processed by Mark Buie.
238
00:13:05,150 --> 00:13:08,731
As the spacecraft crosses
nearly a million miles a day,
239
00:13:08,731 --> 00:13:13,528
it gets closer, so the
pictures of Pluto get clearer.
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00:13:13,528 --> 00:13:16,740
What's revealed are different
light and dark regions
241
00:13:16,740 --> 00:13:21,009
caused by variations
in the planet's albedo.
242
00:13:21,009 --> 00:13:24,503
- Albedo just means that's
how reflective the surface is.
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00:13:24,503 --> 00:13:27,238
And there's some interesting
patterns you see on here.
244
00:13:27,238 --> 00:13:29,235
We see this big dark region here,
245
00:13:29,235 --> 00:13:32,038
which we've known about for a long time.
246
00:13:32,038 --> 00:13:33,649
- [Voiceover] These are
regions where the ground
247
00:13:33,649 --> 00:13:36,250
is covered with some carbon-rich material
248
00:13:36,250 --> 00:13:39,346
that reflects very little light.
249
00:13:39,346 --> 00:13:41,789
- We've got this region
here, which turns out to be
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00:13:41,789 --> 00:13:45,210
the brightest region on the planet.
251
00:13:45,210 --> 00:13:48,502
And we also know that's
where the concentration
252
00:13:48,502 --> 00:13:53,229
of carbon monoxide ice on
the surface of Pluto is.
253
00:13:53,229 --> 00:13:56,117
Because Pluto's brightness
varies as it rotates,
254
00:13:56,117 --> 00:13:59,699
we know that there's bright and
dark patches on the surface.
255
00:13:59,699 --> 00:14:01,560
- [Voiceover] Buie guided
mission planners toward
256
00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:05,726
a trajectory that coincides
with the large bright patch.
257
00:14:09,490 --> 00:14:11,968
This series of three images was made
258
00:14:11,968 --> 00:14:14,775
by the Lorrie Telescope.
259
00:14:14,775 --> 00:14:18,560
Every day, the images
get a little sharper.
260
00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:21,365
In the coming weeks, Lorrie's images
261
00:14:21,365 --> 00:14:24,198
are going to improve dramatically.
262
00:14:25,234 --> 00:14:27,067
History is being made.
263
00:14:29,862 --> 00:14:33,121
New Horizons is 60 million
kilometers from target
264
00:14:33,121 --> 00:14:34,546
and closing.
265
00:14:34,546 --> 00:14:36,546
All systems are working.
266
00:14:38,734 --> 00:14:41,256
Sending a probe on a decade-long flight
267
00:14:41,256 --> 00:14:43,732
some three billion miles away
268
00:14:43,732 --> 00:14:47,509
is a crowning achievement
of the Space Age.
269
00:14:47,509 --> 00:14:50,069
- It began in the 1950s
and through the advance
270
00:14:50,069 --> 00:14:52,431
of technology we've been able to open up
271
00:14:52,431 --> 00:14:54,014
the Solar System for the first time.
272
00:14:54,014 --> 00:14:57,069
And as Carl Sagan said,
"It's only true for one
273
00:14:57,069 --> 00:15:00,323
"or two generations that
you can be the first",
274
00:15:00,323 --> 00:15:02,602
the first to Mars, the first to Venus,
275
00:15:02,602 --> 00:15:05,329
the first to explore all these places
276
00:15:05,329 --> 00:15:07,727
that had just been points
of light in the sky,
277
00:15:07,727 --> 00:15:10,246
and they become real worlds.
278
00:15:10,246 --> 00:15:12,199
- [Voiceover] But no new
planet has been visited
279
00:15:12,199 --> 00:15:14,781
since Voyager 2 passed Neptune.
280
00:15:15,817 --> 00:15:19,279
And yet, one world remains tucked away
281
00:15:19,279 --> 00:15:21,279
in the pages of history.
282
00:15:22,496 --> 00:15:26,846
As New Horizons closes in,
a new discovery is made;
283
00:15:26,846 --> 00:15:30,990
a discovery that points to sudden danger.
284
00:15:30,990 --> 00:15:32,944
- When we discovered Pluto's small moons,
285
00:15:32,944 --> 00:15:35,341
we realized that, just
like every other object
286
00:15:35,341 --> 00:15:37,373
in the Solar System, they would get struck
287
00:15:37,373 --> 00:15:40,626
by still smaller debris
as Pluto draws the system
288
00:15:40,626 --> 00:15:42,173
through the Kuiper Belt.
289
00:15:42,173 --> 00:15:45,506
And that the process of crater formation
290
00:15:46,361 --> 00:15:49,246
on those small moons
was a little different
291
00:15:49,246 --> 00:15:50,752
than in some other situations where
292
00:15:50,752 --> 00:15:52,179
we've gone exploring before.
293
00:15:52,179 --> 00:15:54,050
Because the moons are so small,
294
00:15:54,050 --> 00:15:56,046
they have almost no gravity.
295
00:15:56,046 --> 00:15:58,077
And so, when you make a crater,
296
00:15:58,077 --> 00:16:01,125
all the stuff that comes out of the hole
297
00:16:01,125 --> 00:16:02,907
can't fall back on the moon;
298
00:16:02,907 --> 00:16:06,922
it's moving too fast for the
moon's gravity to retain it.
299
00:16:06,922 --> 00:16:11,393
So that debris actually gets
into orbit around Pluto,
300
00:16:11,393 --> 00:16:13,423
where it's too small to see,
301
00:16:13,423 --> 00:16:15,856
but where it poses a
hazard to New Horizons,
302
00:16:15,856 --> 00:16:17,524
or potential hazard at least.
303
00:16:17,524 --> 00:16:19,680
Because the spacecraft is moving so fast,
304
00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,203
to be hit by rock, or even a pebble,
305
00:16:22,203 --> 00:16:25,984
or even something the size
of a grain of long rice
306
00:16:25,984 --> 00:16:27,532
could be very damaging.
307
00:16:27,532 --> 00:16:29,281
So that was our concern.
308
00:16:29,281 --> 00:16:30,782
- Here's this grain of rice.
309
00:16:30,782 --> 00:16:33,466
This is actually bigger than you need
310
00:16:33,466 --> 00:16:35,707
in order to wipe out the spacecraft.
311
00:16:35,707 --> 00:16:37,131
Fact, if I baby...
312
00:16:37,131 --> 00:16:39,289
OK, I just broke off most of it.
313
00:16:39,289 --> 00:16:41,809
Can you still see that
tiny little piece there?
314
00:16:41,809 --> 00:16:43,558
This is still bigger
than what it would take
315
00:16:43,558 --> 00:16:45,468
to destroy the spacecraft.
316
00:16:45,468 --> 00:16:47,096
OK.
317
00:16:47,096 --> 00:16:49,346
That's a tiny little thing!
318
00:16:50,682 --> 00:16:53,893
This is something that
was gonna break a wire,
319
00:16:53,893 --> 00:16:57,810
or break a lens, or wipe
out the computer chip,
320
00:16:59,055 --> 00:17:01,940
the CPU, something like that.
321
00:17:01,940 --> 00:17:05,272
It's gonna be enough to end the mission.
322
00:17:07,183 --> 00:17:09,215
- [Voiceover] A hazard team is formed.
323
00:17:09,215 --> 00:17:13,381
Its goal is to search for any
rubble in the flight path.
324
00:17:14,502 --> 00:17:17,189
The danger lies in the unseen;
325
00:17:17,189 --> 00:17:21,356
whether it's the size of a
car, or even a grain of sand.
326
00:17:22,437 --> 00:17:24,307
New Horizons is speeding in
327
00:17:24,307 --> 00:17:27,556
at over 1.2 million kilometers per day.
328
00:17:28,622 --> 00:17:32,789
Strike something at this
speed, and it's game over.
329
00:17:33,699 --> 00:17:37,036
One consequence could be
that a damaged spacecraft
330
00:17:37,036 --> 00:17:39,920
would keep collecting
data, but is now unable
331
00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,201
to relay it back to Earth;
332
00:17:42,201 --> 00:17:46,368
or the spacecraft loses all
of its power, and goes cold.
333
00:17:48,257 --> 00:17:51,548
Despite the risk, the
prospects for a safe passage
334
00:17:51,548 --> 00:17:54,681
through the Pluto System look good.
335
00:17:54,681 --> 00:17:57,000
- So the odds are very much in our favor.
336
00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,953
And I don't wanna give you the impression
337
00:17:58,953 --> 00:18:02,164
that we're sending it
willy-nilly onto the beaches
338
00:18:02,164 --> 00:18:06,076
of Normandy where the
kill rates are very high.
339
00:18:06,076 --> 00:18:09,208
There's almost no chance
that it could be hurt,
340
00:18:09,208 --> 00:18:10,797
but there's a small chance
341
00:18:10,797 --> 00:18:13,929
because we are flying into the unknown.
342
00:18:13,929 --> 00:18:15,644
- [Voiceover] Are there
regions where the risks
343
00:18:15,644 --> 00:18:17,761
of collision are greater than others
344
00:18:17,761 --> 00:18:20,343
in and around the Pluto System?
345
00:18:21,340 --> 00:18:24,471
- Charon is basically just
this big vacuum cleaner
346
00:18:24,471 --> 00:18:28,334
that's sucking up all this
dust around its orbit.
347
00:18:28,334 --> 00:18:30,164
That is probably one of the most dangerous
348
00:18:30,164 --> 00:18:32,115
places you can go 'cause you get have dust
349
00:18:32,115 --> 00:18:34,146
all over out there.
350
00:18:34,146 --> 00:18:37,033
- [Voiceover] Because of
Charon, the safest trajectory
351
00:18:37,033 --> 00:18:39,998
is right through the
heart of the Pluto System.
352
00:18:39,998 --> 00:18:42,846
But the team remains vigilant.
353
00:18:42,846 --> 00:18:47,527
- If we find something that
screams out: "Danger, danger!",
354
00:18:47,527 --> 00:18:50,688
then we can do what's called
this antenna-to-ram maneuver
355
00:18:50,688 --> 00:18:53,823
where we rotate the
spacecraft to put the antenna
356
00:18:53,823 --> 00:18:55,573
pointed in the direction of motion
357
00:18:55,573 --> 00:18:59,396
for extra protection just to
get it through that bad time.
358
00:18:59,396 --> 00:19:00,821
Nobody wants to do that because
359
00:19:00,821 --> 00:19:03,018
it does compromise the science we do.
360
00:19:03,018 --> 00:19:04,682
But if that means the difference between
361
00:19:04,682 --> 00:19:08,022
losing the mission and getting something,
362
00:19:08,022 --> 00:19:12,374
that way we've got that
in our back pocket.
363
00:19:12,374 --> 00:19:16,541
- [Voiceover] For many, the
next few days will be tense.
364
00:19:18,194 --> 00:19:20,027
And then, it happened.
365
00:19:21,125 --> 00:19:23,958
Contact with New Horizons is lost.
366
00:19:25,474 --> 00:19:27,962
Mission controllers at
the Applied Physics Lab
367
00:19:27,962 --> 00:19:31,095
scramble to diagnose the problem.
368
00:19:31,095 --> 00:19:34,510
Could New Horizons have
struck something in space?
369
00:19:34,510 --> 00:19:36,911
- [Voiceover] I think I
was in the control center
370
00:19:36,911 --> 00:19:38,459
between six and seven minutes after
371
00:19:38,459 --> 00:19:40,170
I got the call in my office.
372
00:19:40,170 --> 00:19:42,732
I'd be kidding ya if I
didn't say that until
373
00:19:42,732 --> 00:19:46,427
we reestablished contact,
practically anything
374
00:19:46,427 --> 00:19:48,759
could have been the problem.
375
00:19:49,845 --> 00:19:53,312
- [Voiceover] Some 90 minutes pass.
376
00:19:53,312 --> 00:19:56,805
Finally, a telemetry signal is detected;
377
00:19:56,805 --> 00:19:59,981
but it is not from the main computer.
378
00:19:59,981 --> 00:20:02,543
The team is uploading fly-by instructions
379
00:20:02,543 --> 00:20:06,616
at the same time that the main
computer is compressing data.
380
00:20:06,616 --> 00:20:10,449
The primary computer
overloads and shuts down.
381
00:20:11,418 --> 00:20:14,424
The backup computer is
running all systems,
382
00:20:14,424 --> 00:20:18,490
and directs the spacecraft into safe mode.
383
00:20:18,490 --> 00:20:22,557
The bad news is that some data is lost.
384
00:20:22,557 --> 00:20:27,156
- [Voiceover] We lost 16
Lorrie imager observations,
385
00:20:27,156 --> 00:20:30,367
four Ralph color observations.
386
00:20:30,367 --> 00:20:35,287
About 30 observations all
together over this period of time.
387
00:20:35,287 --> 00:20:38,380
We can say that there's zero impact
388
00:20:38,380 --> 00:20:40,788
to the highest-priority science.
389
00:20:40,788 --> 00:20:42,462
- [Voiceover] It takes two days to bring
390
00:20:42,462 --> 00:20:44,962
the main computer back online.
391
00:20:46,199 --> 00:20:48,918
And now the team is back in action.
392
00:20:48,918 --> 00:20:52,009
- New Horizons is doing
great; it's right on course.
393
00:20:52,009 --> 00:20:54,607
And all the scientific
instruments are performing
394
00:20:54,607 --> 00:20:58,958
completely as expected and
we're getting great data.
395
00:20:58,958 --> 00:21:01,925
- [Voiceover] After a journey
of nine and a half years,
396
00:21:01,925 --> 00:21:04,282
five days until flyby,
397
00:21:04,282 --> 00:21:08,301
New Horizons is arriving
at its destination.
398
00:21:08,301 --> 00:21:10,008
- In fact, we're getting
a lot of science now,
399
00:21:10,008 --> 00:21:13,058
and we're discovering
things every few hours.
400
00:21:13,058 --> 00:21:15,822
The primary period, the
really intensive exploration
401
00:21:15,822 --> 00:21:18,633
is a nine-day flight plan that began
402
00:21:18,633 --> 00:21:22,086
on July the seventh and ends on the 15th.
403
00:21:22,086 --> 00:21:24,725
Throughout that period,
the spacecraft is running
404
00:21:24,725 --> 00:21:26,964
as hard a race as it possibly can to get
405
00:21:26,964 --> 00:21:29,546
through all those observations.
406
00:21:31,044 --> 00:21:34,340
- Status of the spacecraft
right now is great.
407
00:21:34,340 --> 00:21:38,506
It's operating and doing
exactly what we want it to do.
408
00:21:39,917 --> 00:21:42,034
- [Voiceover] A set of
preprogrammed commands
409
00:21:42,034 --> 00:21:45,323
will tell the spacecraft
which instruments to use
410
00:21:45,323 --> 00:21:50,239
and what maneuvers to make
during the closest approach.
411
00:21:50,239 --> 00:21:53,322
And the latest pictures are dazzling.
412
00:21:55,079 --> 00:21:57,648
- Today, for the first
time, I'm now looking
413
00:21:57,648 --> 00:22:00,658
at this thing and it's not sorta like
414
00:22:00,658 --> 00:22:02,851
a better version of my map,
415
00:22:02,851 --> 00:22:05,005
but now a picture of a world.
416
00:22:05,005 --> 00:22:08,463
To me, in my head, that
transition just happened today.
417
00:22:08,463 --> 00:22:09,482
Wow!
418
00:22:09,482 --> 00:22:11,474
What's going on there?
419
00:22:11,474 --> 00:22:14,085
Finally we're getting to rule out
420
00:22:14,085 --> 00:22:15,709
certain ideas and theories.
421
00:22:15,709 --> 00:22:19,459
It's not some big
monstrous planetwide crater
422
00:22:21,571 --> 00:22:25,148
like Sink of the Embryum
Basin on the Moon.
423
00:22:25,148 --> 00:22:28,804
That's not what's going on on Pluto;
424
00:22:28,804 --> 00:22:31,806
but what is, I don't know,
but it's an incredible ride
425
00:22:31,806 --> 00:22:35,096
just watching this stuff
come in day by day.
426
00:22:35,096 --> 00:22:38,837
- [Voiceover] Another surprise
is Charon's polar cap.
427
00:22:38,837 --> 00:22:41,884
- We're seeing a feature on Charon already
428
00:22:41,884 --> 00:22:44,775
which is a dark north-polar region.
429
00:22:44,775 --> 00:22:47,418
There were no hints of this in the data
430
00:22:47,418 --> 00:22:50,552
that I've taken over the past decades.
431
00:22:50,552 --> 00:22:54,647
- Charon has a dark pole that
was completely unexpected
432
00:22:54,647 --> 00:22:56,686
and which we don't understand.
433
00:22:56,686 --> 00:22:59,552
But in the coming days we're
gonna be able to collect
434
00:22:59,552 --> 00:23:00,984
compositional information about it
435
00:23:00,984 --> 00:23:03,690
that may shed some clues on what it is.
436
00:23:03,690 --> 00:23:05,319
But the details of things like whether
437
00:23:05,319 --> 00:23:08,089
there's cantaloupe terrain on Pluto,
438
00:23:08,089 --> 00:23:11,994
we'll only know after tomorrow's flyby.
439
00:23:11,994 --> 00:23:14,320
So let me describe the encounter,
440
00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,122
what's gonna be happening
tomorrow, on the 14th.
441
00:23:17,122 --> 00:23:20,290
Later this evening, we're
gonna receive the last signals
442
00:23:20,290 --> 00:23:22,891
from the spacecraft; and
that's part of the flight plan.
443
00:23:22,891 --> 00:23:25,448
Because after that point
we are so close to Pluto
444
00:23:25,448 --> 00:23:27,362
that we don't wanna spend any time
445
00:23:27,362 --> 00:23:29,437
turning the antenna back to the Earth
446
00:23:29,437 --> 00:23:32,128
to communicate with the
Earth because whenever
447
00:23:32,128 --> 00:23:34,606
the antenna's pointed at
the Earth, the cameras
448
00:23:34,606 --> 00:23:38,756
and spectrometers can't be
pointed at Pluto and its moons.
449
00:23:38,756 --> 00:23:41,809
So for the next roughly 24 hours,
450
00:23:41,809 --> 00:23:44,421
the spacecraft will be
completely on its own
451
00:23:44,421 --> 00:23:46,865
and very busy because it's gonna conduct
452
00:23:46,865 --> 00:23:48,532
hundreds of scientific observations
453
00:23:48,532 --> 00:23:51,015
spread among the six
targets in the System:
454
00:23:51,015 --> 00:23:53,515
the planet and the five moons.
455
00:23:57,479 --> 00:24:00,079
- [Voiceover] Now on
final approach to Pluto,
456
00:24:00,079 --> 00:24:02,968
the probe becomes autonomous,
457
00:24:02,968 --> 00:24:05,611
continuously monitoring
all of its navigation
458
00:24:05,611 --> 00:24:09,777
and science subsystems, its
temperature, and its voltages,
459
00:24:10,654 --> 00:24:14,820
compressing and archiving
data and tracking the planet.
460
00:24:21,951 --> 00:24:26,061
Back on Earth, a huge crowd
gathers at Mission Control,
461
00:24:26,061 --> 00:24:29,558
anxiously awaiting the
moment of closest approach,
462
00:24:29,558 --> 00:24:34,066
when the spacecraft, after a
journey of three billion miles,
463
00:24:34,066 --> 00:24:37,900
will be only 7700 miles
above Pluto's surface.
464
00:24:38,779 --> 00:24:40,447
- [Crowd] Two, one!
465
00:24:40,447 --> 00:24:43,447
- [Man] New Horizons and Pluto 2015!
466
00:24:44,460 --> 00:24:46,710
(cheering)
467
00:24:48,612 --> 00:24:51,582
- [Voiceover] New Horizons
sweeps past the planet.
468
00:24:51,582 --> 00:24:54,343
But it still has work to do.
469
00:24:54,343 --> 00:24:56,389
- And then it will start
to recede from Pluto
470
00:24:56,389 --> 00:25:00,974
on the far side and continue
to make scientific observations
471
00:25:00,974 --> 00:25:02,681
throughout the day,
throughout the evening.
472
00:25:02,681 --> 00:25:04,348
It'll only take one break
473
00:25:04,348 --> 00:25:07,562
to communicate back to the
Earth for about 20 minutes
474
00:25:07,562 --> 00:25:11,066
with, not data, but engineering
telemetry to tell us
475
00:25:11,066 --> 00:25:14,859
it made it, it's healthy,
give us temperatures,
476
00:25:14,859 --> 00:25:17,705
voltages, computer
readings, things like that,
477
00:25:17,705 --> 00:25:22,417
so that we know that we
can feel relaxed about it.
478
00:25:22,417 --> 00:25:26,243
That's gonna happen on
the spacecraft at about
479
00:25:26,243 --> 00:25:28,440
4:30 in the afternoon Eastern Time,
480
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,186
but the signal, traveling
at the speed of light,
481
00:25:30,186 --> 00:25:32,308
will take four and a half
hours and it will reach
482
00:25:32,308 --> 00:25:36,578
the ground around nine
o'clock Eastern Time.
483
00:25:36,578 --> 00:25:40,285
- I will breathe much
easier tonight at 9:02 PM
484
00:25:40,285 --> 00:25:43,297
because we've spent so much
time studying the hazards,
485
00:25:43,297 --> 00:25:45,899
and knowing that the spacecraft
is sending us a signal
486
00:25:45,899 --> 00:25:49,972
that says it's OK, that just
means OK the fun begins now,
487
00:25:49,972 --> 00:25:52,460
we don't have to worry
about hazards anymore.
488
00:25:52,460 --> 00:25:54,084
But we'll know that at nine o'clock.
489
00:25:54,084 --> 00:25:56,200
It will be a great moment.
490
00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:59,614
- Now, during that time
when it's not talking to us,
491
00:25:59,614 --> 00:26:02,504
we believe that the
chance of the spacecraft
492
00:26:02,504 --> 00:26:06,650
striking anything is very
low, around one in 5,000,
493
00:26:06,650 --> 00:26:08,558
maybe one in 10,000.
494
00:26:08,558 --> 00:26:10,551
So we think it's very safe.
495
00:26:10,551 --> 00:26:12,504
But, you know, that's our baby,
496
00:26:12,504 --> 00:26:15,763
and during that time,
you wouldn't be human
497
00:26:15,763 --> 00:26:19,546
if you weren't a little bit interested
498
00:26:19,546 --> 00:26:21,131
in that nine-o'clock transmission
499
00:26:21,131 --> 00:26:22,682
to see that everything's gonna be alright.
500
00:26:22,682 --> 00:26:25,326
So there'll be a little
bit of tension in the air.
501
00:26:25,326 --> 00:26:27,041
That's only normal.
502
00:26:27,041 --> 00:26:30,256
- And on this mission you
learned patience is a virtue.
503
00:26:30,256 --> 00:26:32,171
- Especially on this one, right
after nine and a half years.
504
00:26:32,171 --> 00:26:33,599
What's a few more minutes
to wait for something else
505
00:26:33,599 --> 00:26:34,435
to happen?
- [Man] Right, what's a couple
506
00:26:34,435 --> 00:26:35,268
of minutes? (laughs)
507
00:26:35,268 --> 00:26:37,615
- OK, I think we can go to
Mission Operations right now.
508
00:26:37,615 --> 00:26:39,948
So let's take a look inside.
509
00:26:42,864 --> 00:26:44,539
- [Man] We're on the Deep Space Network.
510
00:26:44,539 --> 00:26:46,289
- In lock on symbols.
511
00:26:47,796 --> 00:26:51,699
- [Man] 'Cause that's the
first step in getting data.
512
00:26:51,699 --> 00:26:53,041
- OK, copy that.
513
00:26:53,041 --> 00:26:55,518
We are in lock with telemetry
with the spacecraft.
514
00:26:55,518 --> 00:26:58,851
(cheering and clapping)
515
00:27:04,587 --> 00:27:06,214
Go ahead, CNDH.
516
00:27:06,214 --> 00:27:08,408
- [Man] CNDH reports nominal status.
517
00:27:08,408 --> 00:27:11,380
Our SSR pointers are where
we expect them to be;
518
00:27:11,380 --> 00:27:14,286
which means we have recorded
the expected amount of data.
519
00:27:14,286 --> 00:27:15,576
- Copy that!
520
00:27:15,576 --> 00:27:18,225
Looks like we have a good data record.
521
00:27:18,225 --> 00:27:20,660
(applause)
522
00:27:20,660 --> 00:27:22,940
We have a healthy spacecraft.
523
00:27:22,940 --> 00:27:26,479
We've recorded data of the Pluto System.
524
00:27:26,479 --> 00:27:29,396
And we're outbound for Pluto.
525
00:27:29,396 --> 00:27:31,473
(applause)
526
00:27:31,473 --> 00:27:32,307
- Yes!
527
00:27:38,871 --> 00:27:41,350
- [Voiceover] The spacecraft
is in working order.
528
00:27:41,350 --> 00:27:43,504
The New Horizons team has gone where
529
00:27:43,504 --> 00:27:46,586
no other human being has gone before.
530
00:27:49,242 --> 00:27:52,576
- [Man] Thank you.
- [Woman] Thank you.
531
00:27:52,576 --> 00:27:54,445
- I would like to congratulate
532
00:27:54,445 --> 00:27:58,595
the New Horizons Team of
NASA on their pioneering
533
00:27:58,595 --> 00:28:02,585
decade-long mission to
explore the Pluto System
534
00:28:02,585 --> 00:28:04,820
in the Kuiper Belt.
535
00:28:04,820 --> 00:28:06,976
Billions of miles from Earth,
536
00:28:06,976 --> 00:28:09,498
this little robotic
spacecraft will show us
537
00:28:09,498 --> 00:28:12,248
the first blips of mysterious Pluto
538
00:28:12,248 --> 00:28:15,331
at the very edge of our Solar System.
539
00:28:18,749 --> 00:28:22,916
- [Voiceover] Finally, the
pictures begin to come in.
540
00:28:24,528 --> 00:28:28,801
We now see the planet in exquisite detail.
541
00:28:28,801 --> 00:28:31,134
Pluto becomes a known world.
542
00:28:34,050 --> 00:28:38,217
- OK, so I'm not a geologist,
but I am a rock climber
543
00:28:39,253 --> 00:28:41,363
and I really like rocks.
544
00:28:41,363 --> 00:28:43,559
And I ski, and I really like skiing.
545
00:28:43,559 --> 00:28:46,362
So we're looking at this surface,
546
00:28:46,362 --> 00:28:50,108
and I look at the snow,
and I'm looking for rocks.
547
00:28:50,108 --> 00:28:52,631
But actually, you look at those pictures,
548
00:28:52,631 --> 00:28:54,374
and they are just mindboggling.
549
00:28:54,374 --> 00:28:55,310
They're totally cool.
550
00:28:55,310 --> 00:28:56,445
I mean we were all jumping up and down,
551
00:28:56,445 --> 00:28:58,070
looking at them,
wondering what's going on,
552
00:28:58,070 --> 00:29:00,184
and asking the geologists:
"What's happening here?
553
00:29:00,184 --> 00:29:02,825
"What's happening there?",
and it looked remarkably
554
00:29:02,825 --> 00:29:05,588
like Mars; much better
than Mars of course.
555
00:29:05,588 --> 00:29:07,010
It's infinitely better than Mars.
556
00:29:07,010 --> 00:29:08,836
(laughing)
557
00:29:08,836 --> 00:29:11,477
It's kind of reddish;
it's got impact craters;
558
00:29:11,477 --> 00:29:13,310
it's got cracks.
559
00:29:13,310 --> 00:29:16,324
- So first of all, we got
high-resolution pictures of Pluto
560
00:29:16,324 --> 00:29:19,071
that were just showed off here today,
561
00:29:19,071 --> 00:29:21,488
the highest resolutions ever.
562
00:29:22,345 --> 00:29:24,555
- [Voiceover] What about Buie's maps?
563
00:29:24,555 --> 00:29:26,589
Did they guide New Horizons cameras
564
00:29:26,589 --> 00:29:29,922
to the best regions for scientific work?
565
00:29:31,305 --> 00:29:34,158
Buie's map predicted
the heart-shaped region
566
00:29:34,158 --> 00:29:37,408
now unofficially called Tombaugh Regio.
567
00:29:38,343 --> 00:29:41,447
- It is no accident that we are looking
568
00:29:41,447 --> 00:29:43,882
at that part of Pluto.
569
00:29:43,882 --> 00:29:46,773
All of the ground-based data
that we've taken up to now
570
00:29:46,773 --> 00:29:50,110
and all of the Hubble data says, told us,
571
00:29:50,110 --> 00:29:54,991
if you only can see one part
of Pluto very very accurately,
572
00:29:54,991 --> 00:29:57,427
which part would you wanna see?
573
00:29:57,427 --> 00:29:59,987
And that's what we picked,
574
00:29:59,987 --> 00:30:04,498
is this region centered
right on Tombaugh Regio.
575
00:30:04,498 --> 00:30:06,454
- [Voiceover] High-resolution images taken
576
00:30:06,454 --> 00:30:09,953
by the Lorrie Camera reveal new landmarks.
577
00:30:11,735 --> 00:30:15,318
Here, along the edge
of the Sputnik Planum,
578
00:30:16,202 --> 00:30:18,846
the autumn wind stirs a new chill
579
00:30:18,846 --> 00:30:21,347
across this vast frozen plain.
580
00:30:23,810 --> 00:30:27,470
Mysterious polygonal
mounds rule the landscape,
581
00:30:27,470 --> 00:30:31,637
until they reach the ramparts
of ancient low-lying hills.
582
00:30:32,958 --> 00:30:36,542
It is a region now
known as Sputnik Planum.
583
00:30:38,900 --> 00:30:41,869
Glaciers of nitrogen ice and slush
584
00:30:41,869 --> 00:30:45,084
ooze along the walls of a timeworn crater
585
00:30:45,084 --> 00:30:47,285
and spill into the Planum;
586
00:30:47,285 --> 00:30:51,036
a process researchers
are only just learning.
587
00:30:52,085 --> 00:30:54,650
Along the equator lies a sudden
588
00:30:54,650 --> 00:30:57,317
and inexplicable mountain range,
589
00:31:00,955 --> 00:31:02,122
Norgay Montes,
590
00:31:03,192 --> 00:31:07,359
a towering mountain of water
ice some 11,000 feet tall,
591
00:31:08,319 --> 00:31:11,486
dark and brooding over its icy domain.
592
00:31:12,588 --> 00:31:15,558
The escarpments knife
through the thin air,
593
00:31:15,558 --> 00:31:18,225
defying all attempts at erosion.
594
00:31:20,242 --> 00:31:22,964
- I think that's a case where
595
00:31:22,964 --> 00:31:27,764
our own intuition about geologic
processes is failing us.
596
00:31:27,764 --> 00:31:30,690
This is so different that
we need to learn about
597
00:31:30,690 --> 00:31:34,801
a whole new style of planetary
landscape management,
598
00:31:34,801 --> 00:31:37,853
if you will, that other
processes are working
599
00:31:37,853 --> 00:31:39,848
in different ways, and we have to look
600
00:31:39,848 --> 00:31:42,492
at all the clues that we're
getting from the data.
601
00:31:42,492 --> 00:31:44,158
We've only been looking at these pictures
602
00:31:44,158 --> 00:31:48,325
for a few short hours, and
we got a lot of surprises
603
00:31:49,571 --> 00:31:52,695
that we're gonna have to work through.
604
00:31:52,695 --> 00:31:55,546
- All I can say is it's wildly beautiful.
605
00:31:55,546 --> 00:31:57,985
The thing that I keep
coming back to is that
606
00:31:57,985 --> 00:32:01,202
Pluto could have been boring.
607
00:32:01,202 --> 00:32:03,470
At least from my standpoint,
there are certain objects
608
00:32:03,470 --> 00:32:04,890
in the Solar System that are just sort of
609
00:32:04,890 --> 00:32:08,182
balls covered with craters,
and Pluto is nothing like that,
610
00:32:08,182 --> 00:32:10,339
and Charon is nothing like that.
611
00:32:10,339 --> 00:32:12,736
We've hit the motherlode
of fascinating objects
612
00:32:12,736 --> 00:32:15,017
in this particular mission.
613
00:32:15,017 --> 00:32:19,286
- [Voiceover] Pluto's
moons surprise everyone.
614
00:32:19,286 --> 00:32:21,081
- We have big news
615
00:32:21,081 --> 00:32:23,850
from the first resolved image of Hydra,
616
00:32:23,850 --> 00:32:26,697
Pluto's outermost moon,
through the discovery
617
00:32:26,697 --> 00:32:29,394
that Charon has been active.
618
00:32:29,394 --> 00:32:31,190
- [Audience Member] Ooh!
619
00:32:31,190 --> 00:32:32,166
(laughing)
620
00:32:32,166 --> 00:32:33,241
- Thank you. Go ahead!
621
00:32:33,241 --> 00:32:36,078
(applause)
622
00:32:36,078 --> 00:32:38,235
- [Voiceover] The first
set of images released
623
00:32:38,235 --> 00:32:42,403
include this view of Pluto's
outermost moon, Hydra.
624
00:32:43,398 --> 00:32:46,064
The shape of Hydra is not clear.
625
00:32:47,053 --> 00:32:50,434
Its bright white tonality is a mystery.
626
00:32:50,434 --> 00:32:53,203
Things in space get dark with age;
627
00:32:53,203 --> 00:32:55,620
and yet Hydra is very bright;
628
00:32:56,779 --> 00:32:58,934
which forces many to speculate
629
00:32:58,934 --> 00:33:01,184
Hydra is made of water ice.
630
00:33:03,286 --> 00:33:06,948
Many predicted Charon would
be a crater-covered world,
631
00:33:06,948 --> 00:33:09,627
a fossil relic left
over from the formation
632
00:33:09,627 --> 00:33:11,782
of the Solar System.
633
00:33:11,782 --> 00:33:13,858
- And what we're finding is
that it's still a fossil relic
634
00:33:13,858 --> 00:33:15,645
but it's been painted over every week
635
00:33:15,645 --> 00:33:18,312
for the last four billion years.
636
00:33:19,548 --> 00:33:21,950
Maybe not every week, but
every few thousand years
637
00:33:21,950 --> 00:33:23,942
we've got a new layer on top of it.
638
00:33:23,942 --> 00:33:25,771
And so what we're learning is a whole lot
639
00:33:25,771 --> 00:33:27,518
of very interesting geology.
640
00:33:27,518 --> 00:33:29,548
We're gonna have to dig
through that geology
641
00:33:29,548 --> 00:33:31,944
not quite literally but using our data
642
00:33:31,944 --> 00:33:33,449
to understand the composition
643
00:33:33,449 --> 00:33:35,405
and the core properties and so on.
644
00:33:35,405 --> 00:33:37,483
It is still a fossil relic
and we will still learn
645
00:33:37,483 --> 00:33:39,921
those properties of Pluto and Charon,
646
00:33:39,921 --> 00:33:41,832
but it's gonna take a lot more work
647
00:33:41,832 --> 00:33:44,756
than we had maybe anticipated.
648
00:33:44,756 --> 00:33:47,802
- [Voiceover] Of particular
interest is the black splotch
649
00:33:47,802 --> 00:33:49,994
on Charon's north pole.
650
00:33:49,994 --> 00:33:52,074
- The dark patch on the
north pole of Charon
651
00:33:52,074 --> 00:33:55,406
is definitely, it's a nice
little Christmas present,
652
00:33:55,406 --> 00:33:57,232
if you will, nice little surprise.
653
00:33:57,232 --> 00:33:59,023
Nobody predicted that.
654
00:33:59,023 --> 00:34:01,224
And we've already got a
pretty nice explanation
655
00:34:01,224 --> 00:34:02,687
that's been talked about.
656
00:34:02,687 --> 00:34:05,819
It turns out that on
the seasonal timescale,
657
00:34:05,819 --> 00:34:08,746
one pole of Charon most of the time
658
00:34:08,746 --> 00:34:11,497
is in intense long-term darkness.
659
00:34:12,449 --> 00:34:15,343
And that dark pole cools down
660
00:34:15,343 --> 00:34:17,926
to extremely cold temperatures.
661
00:34:18,804 --> 00:34:20,995
- [Voiceover] The dark
hues are a thin reside
662
00:34:20,995 --> 00:34:25,162
of methane and ethane that
survive the extreme cold.
663
00:34:27,500 --> 00:34:32,018
There is an enormous chasm
on the side of Charon,
664
00:34:32,018 --> 00:34:36,616
and a sunken mountain nearly
three kilometers high.
665
00:34:36,616 --> 00:34:38,282
How did this happen?
666
00:34:39,417 --> 00:34:41,858
It turns out that both Pluto and Charon
667
00:34:41,858 --> 00:34:45,966
are not as dense and
compacted as one might expect.
668
00:34:45,966 --> 00:34:48,808
The material in the bowl
surrounding the mountain
669
00:34:48,808 --> 00:34:52,340
could have sagged from the weight of it.
670
00:34:52,340 --> 00:34:55,232
- The surface of Pluto
is very very complicated.
671
00:34:55,232 --> 00:34:58,562
What we see from remote observations
672
00:34:58,562 --> 00:35:02,475
is methane is the strongest signature
673
00:35:02,475 --> 00:35:05,809
and nitrogen is the most by amount,
674
00:35:05,809 --> 00:35:07,397
even though its signature is very weak,
675
00:35:07,397 --> 00:35:10,492
and then we also see carbon monoxide.
676
00:35:10,492 --> 00:35:12,401
- [Voiceover] Here we
see a map generated from
677
00:35:12,401 --> 00:35:15,817
the spectroscopic readings of LEISA.
678
00:35:15,817 --> 00:35:20,417
Purple shows the distribution
of methane across the surface.
679
00:35:20,417 --> 00:35:22,894
The smooth Sputnik Planum appears to have
680
00:35:22,894 --> 00:35:27,326
some of the highest
concentrations of methane.
681
00:35:27,326 --> 00:35:30,212
- We know from the bulk
composition of Pluto,
682
00:35:30,212 --> 00:35:32,328
from its density, that Pluto's got to have
683
00:35:32,328 --> 00:35:33,754
a lot of water ice.
684
00:35:33,754 --> 00:35:37,456
But spectroscopically we can't see that.
685
00:35:37,456 --> 00:35:41,599
So that tells us perhaps
from remote observations
686
00:35:41,599 --> 00:35:44,564
that the water is
completely hidden from view.
687
00:35:44,564 --> 00:35:48,381
And that's certainly a big possibility.
688
00:35:48,381 --> 00:35:50,500
- [Voiceover] 24 hours
after passing through
689
00:35:50,500 --> 00:35:53,832
the Pluto-Charon System,
New Horizons is nearly
690
00:35:53,832 --> 00:35:56,962
a million miles behind the planet.
691
00:35:56,962 --> 00:35:59,850
The probe spins around, and captures
692
00:35:59,850 --> 00:36:03,478
one of the most spectacular
images of the mission:
693
00:36:03,478 --> 00:36:06,144
the backlit atmosphere of Pluto.
694
00:36:07,862 --> 00:36:10,307
- Then you've got Pluto with
its extended atmosphere,
695
00:36:10,307 --> 00:36:12,014
and it's losing stuff off the top
696
00:36:12,014 --> 00:36:13,800
of the atmosphere all the time.
697
00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:16,483
And there's some great models showing
698
00:36:16,483 --> 00:36:21,078
just how much gas there would
be in and around Charon.
699
00:36:21,078 --> 00:36:23,882
- [Voiceover] Pluto has one of
the most unusual atmospheres
700
00:36:23,882 --> 00:36:25,631
in our Solar System.
701
00:36:25,631 --> 00:36:28,193
It's a lot bigger than
the rest of the planet,
702
00:36:28,193 --> 00:36:30,526
and it's leaking into space.
703
00:36:31,532 --> 00:36:35,079
As the spacecraft passes
to the night side of Pluto,
704
00:36:35,079 --> 00:36:37,112
Alice looks back into the sunlight
705
00:36:37,112 --> 00:36:40,038
streaming through Pluto's atmosphere.
706
00:36:40,038 --> 00:36:42,806
- Alice, which is an
ultraviolet spectrometer,
707
00:36:42,806 --> 00:36:45,248
has the capability of looking back through
708
00:36:45,248 --> 00:36:48,203
Pluto's atmosphere as the
spacecraft goes behind,
709
00:36:48,203 --> 00:36:50,726
and look at ultraviolet light
that's coming from the Sun
710
00:36:50,726 --> 00:36:53,040
and being attenuated by
the various gas species
711
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,285
in the atmosphere; and
so that'll be a great way
712
00:36:55,285 --> 00:36:59,558
of getting at the chemical
compositions in the atmosphere.
713
00:36:59,558 --> 00:37:01,713
- [Voiceover] Some speculate
that the air was once
714
00:37:01,713 --> 00:37:04,642
more dense than it is today.
715
00:37:04,642 --> 00:37:06,309
- We know that Pluto's
atmosphere has changed
716
00:37:06,309 --> 00:37:08,423
dramatically in the last 30 years.
717
00:37:08,423 --> 00:37:11,188
We've been measuring its
atmospheric pressure from Earth
718
00:37:11,188 --> 00:37:13,789
by watching stars go behind Pluto.
719
00:37:13,789 --> 00:37:15,947
And the way that their light winks out
720
00:37:15,947 --> 00:37:18,207
tells us the atmospheric pressure.
721
00:37:18,207 --> 00:37:19,470
And it's doubled.
722
00:37:19,470 --> 00:37:22,846
In fact, it's more than
doubled from the '80s to today.
723
00:37:22,846 --> 00:37:26,268
And that means that more
material is in the atmosphere.
724
00:37:26,268 --> 00:37:28,630
And it's either been injected,
725
00:37:28,630 --> 00:37:30,784
for example from volcanoes or geysers,
726
00:37:30,784 --> 00:37:35,216
or it's due to snows
that have been vaporized
727
00:37:35,216 --> 00:37:37,135
and become part of the atmosphere.
728
00:37:37,135 --> 00:37:38,393
We don't know which; and it could be
729
00:37:38,393 --> 00:37:40,423
a combination of both, in fact.
730
00:37:40,423 --> 00:37:42,457
And when we get the data
sets for composition,
731
00:37:42,457 --> 00:37:45,431
and temperature, and
topography, and geology,
732
00:37:45,431 --> 00:37:47,583
we'll be able to put
that whole story together
733
00:37:47,583 --> 00:37:49,575
from those clues.
734
00:37:49,575 --> 00:37:52,214
- [Voiceover] And yet,
even as the planet slips
735
00:37:52,214 --> 00:37:56,381
into the wake of history,
data streams back to Earth.
736
00:37:58,638 --> 00:38:00,796
- The data that's gonna
come in from New Horizons
737
00:38:00,796 --> 00:38:04,905
clearly is a lot about
geology, but we'll get maps,
738
00:38:04,905 --> 00:38:06,898
we'll be able to see where the
light and dark patterns are,
739
00:38:06,898 --> 00:38:09,052
and I'll be able to
compare that to the maps
740
00:38:09,052 --> 00:38:11,249
that I've done over the years.
741
00:38:11,249 --> 00:38:15,249
But first I'm gonna savor
the up-close pictures.
742
00:38:17,281 --> 00:38:19,965
- [Voiceover] By week
four after the flyby,
743
00:38:19,965 --> 00:38:22,242
new images are downloaded.
744
00:38:22,242 --> 00:38:24,968
Earth gets a second detailed look
745
00:38:24,968 --> 00:38:27,636
at the strange geology of Pluto.
746
00:38:28,915 --> 00:38:32,252
Here, we see new detail
in the border realm
747
00:38:32,252 --> 00:38:34,452
of the Sputnik Planum.
748
00:38:34,452 --> 00:38:37,500
Strange blocks of water ice dominate
749
00:38:37,500 --> 00:38:40,103
the center of this image.
750
00:38:40,103 --> 00:38:44,187
The smallest objects are
half a kilometer across.
751
00:38:45,914 --> 00:38:48,927
Are these dunes of granulized nitrogen,
752
00:38:48,927 --> 00:38:53,405
shifting in the winds of
a cold Plutonian surraco?
753
00:38:53,405 --> 00:38:57,572
Or are they frozen in place,
like the sand dunes of Mars?
754
00:39:01,990 --> 00:39:04,998
Here, we fly down to the surface of Pluto,
755
00:39:04,998 --> 00:39:08,614
along the outer wall of a large crater.
756
00:39:08,614 --> 00:39:12,847
The darker ground on the
left is the oldest surface.
757
00:39:12,847 --> 00:39:17,367
The older the ground, the
more heavily cratered.
758
00:39:17,367 --> 00:39:19,076
The yellow crater floor is not
759
00:39:19,076 --> 00:39:21,909
as old as the darker surroundings.
760
00:39:23,068 --> 00:39:26,400
The white ground is fresh nitrogen snow.
761
00:39:29,045 --> 00:39:32,045
The moon, Charon, dominates the sky.
762
00:39:33,388 --> 00:39:36,138
But does it really snow on Pluto?
763
00:39:37,050 --> 00:39:38,633
Maybe not.
764
00:39:38,633 --> 00:39:41,602
- We've even seen, even
at the very low resolution
765
00:39:41,602 --> 00:39:44,287
of our Earth-based and Hubble studies,
766
00:39:44,287 --> 00:39:46,323
evidence over the last couple of decades
767
00:39:46,323 --> 00:39:50,189
that Pluto's surface
appearance is changing.
768
00:39:50,189 --> 00:39:53,123
And so we're pretty sure it's due to
769
00:39:53,123 --> 00:39:56,665
what we call volatile migration,
or volatile transport,
770
00:39:56,665 --> 00:39:58,090
which means snow is moving.
771
00:39:58,090 --> 00:40:00,650
It's a fancy way of saying snow is moving.
772
00:40:00,650 --> 00:40:01,749
The computer models show that
773
00:40:01,749 --> 00:40:03,131
that's what should be happening.
774
00:40:03,131 --> 00:40:05,580
The data, although sketchy from the Earth,
775
00:40:05,580 --> 00:40:07,452
tells us that that's happening.
776
00:40:07,452 --> 00:40:09,898
And now we're gonna go
zooming right up on top of it
777
00:40:09,898 --> 00:40:13,023
where we can really get the details.
778
00:40:13,023 --> 00:40:16,886
- [Voiceover] How did the mountains form?
779
00:40:16,886 --> 00:40:20,265
This image is some 75 miles across.
780
00:40:20,265 --> 00:40:24,532
And we can see details down to 270 meters.
781
00:40:24,532 --> 00:40:28,150
Lone mountains draped in
streamers of red bunting
782
00:40:28,150 --> 00:40:32,317
form an unexpected archipelago
in a sea of frozen nitrogen.
783
00:40:35,555 --> 00:40:39,466
The patterns resemble wind-whipped dunes.
784
00:40:39,466 --> 00:40:41,458
- So here we have these great pictures
785
00:40:41,458 --> 00:40:43,125
that were just released today
786
00:40:43,125 --> 00:40:45,035
that show these topographic features,
787
00:40:45,035 --> 00:40:48,786
these mountains that
are huge by any measure.
788
00:40:50,157 --> 00:40:52,880
And you can't make that out of nitrogen
789
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:55,322
or methane or carbon monoxide.
790
00:40:55,322 --> 00:40:58,333
The only building block
that you have in Pluto
791
00:40:58,333 --> 00:41:02,083
that you can make these
with is rock and ice.
792
00:41:03,422 --> 00:41:05,740
The rock, we think, is
sequestered way deep
793
00:41:05,740 --> 00:41:07,409
in the core of Pluto,
794
00:41:07,409 --> 00:41:10,418
much like the Earth
has got this iron core.
795
00:41:10,418 --> 00:41:13,510
But Pluto we think has a mantle
796
00:41:13,510 --> 00:41:15,927
that's made out of water ice.
797
00:41:16,884 --> 00:41:18,920
- [Voiceover] Because
water ice is less dense
798
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:23,309
than nitrogen ice, we see
here chunky hills of water ice
799
00:41:23,309 --> 00:41:26,929
pulled outward by invisible
slow-moving currents
800
00:41:26,929 --> 00:41:30,428
in frozen seas of nitrogen, like icebergs.
801
00:41:32,223 --> 00:41:35,973
The force driving this
convection is unknown.
802
00:41:36,901 --> 00:41:39,991
New data from LEISA
shows exposed water ice
803
00:41:39,991 --> 00:41:43,815
to be considerably more
widespread across Pluto's surface
804
00:41:43,815 --> 00:41:46,170
than was previously known.
805
00:41:46,170 --> 00:41:49,912
This suggests that Pluto's
icy bedrock is hidden
806
00:41:49,912 --> 00:41:52,470
beneath a thick blanket of other ices,
807
00:41:52,470 --> 00:41:56,387
such as methane, nitrogen,
and carbon monoxide.
808
00:41:57,272 --> 00:41:59,059
- That's a real mystery.
809
00:41:59,059 --> 00:42:00,645
And I think that points to the fact
810
00:42:00,645 --> 00:42:04,144
that we don't understand these ice worlds.
811
00:42:06,092 --> 00:42:08,289
- [Voiceover] But nothing
is quite as startling
812
00:42:08,289 --> 00:42:12,071
as the colors seen in
this composite portrait.
813
00:42:12,071 --> 00:42:16,221
Blue, red, and infrared
images recorded by Ralph
814
00:42:16,221 --> 00:42:20,388
resolve details as small
as eight tenths of a mile.
815
00:42:21,515 --> 00:42:24,404
Image processing is used
to coax more terrain
816
00:42:24,404 --> 00:42:28,065
from the region unofficially
called Tartarus Dorsa,
817
00:42:28,065 --> 00:42:30,709
hidden in the twilight.
818
00:42:30,709 --> 00:42:33,717
We behold something totally new.
819
00:42:33,717 --> 00:42:38,683
Nothing like it exists anywhere
else in our Solar System.
820
00:42:38,683 --> 00:42:41,326
A phalanx of strange ridges bristling
821
00:42:41,326 --> 00:42:44,058
along the edge of night.
822
00:42:44,058 --> 00:42:47,592
This region more resembles
the scales of a dragon
823
00:42:47,592 --> 00:42:50,676
or the bark of a tree than landforms.
824
00:42:51,831 --> 00:42:54,477
Are the ridges the
result of tectonic forces
825
00:42:54,477 --> 00:42:57,288
generated by internal heat?
826
00:42:57,288 --> 00:42:59,845
Or are they the work of sublimation
827
00:42:59,845 --> 00:43:03,012
due to the light of a very remote Sun?
828
00:43:03,955 --> 00:43:07,375
- We're gonna have to go back
and understand why that is
829
00:43:07,375 --> 00:43:09,689
that these rocky and icy worlds
830
00:43:09,689 --> 00:43:13,512
stay wet longer than we ever imagined.
831
00:43:13,512 --> 00:43:16,806
It's hidden deep beneath,
but there's definitely
832
00:43:16,806 --> 00:43:20,347
something strange going on there.
833
00:43:20,347 --> 00:43:21,848
- [Voiceover] Are these wadis are record
834
00:43:21,848 --> 00:43:24,171
of ancient flash floods?
835
00:43:24,171 --> 00:43:27,833
Could these crater floors
be covered by a fresh snow?
836
00:43:27,833 --> 00:43:32,000
An early sign of the onset
of a dark Plutonian winter.
837
00:43:34,296 --> 00:43:36,087
- Pluto is far more active and diverse
838
00:43:36,087 --> 00:43:40,196
than even my imagination
said it was gonna be.
839
00:43:40,196 --> 00:43:44,261
That's OK, 'cause every time
we've gone to a new place,
840
00:43:44,261 --> 00:43:48,494
we always find our imaginations
are never up to the task.
841
00:43:48,494 --> 00:43:51,467
- [Voiceover] Some seven weeks
after the Pluto encounter,
842
00:43:51,467 --> 00:43:54,685
New Horizons will begin
to relay tens of gigabits
843
00:43:54,685 --> 00:43:57,528
of stored data back to Earth.
844
00:43:57,528 --> 00:44:00,052
As the distance continues to grow,
845
00:44:00,052 --> 00:44:02,285
the downlink will diminish,
846
00:44:02,285 --> 00:44:06,107
with speeds falling from
2,000 bits per second
847
00:44:06,107 --> 00:44:08,525
to about 700 bits per second.
848
00:44:10,498 --> 00:44:13,140
- And even though we're
using the very largest
849
00:44:13,140 --> 00:44:16,354
antennas on the ground
that we have, the 70-meter,
850
00:44:16,354 --> 00:44:19,768
it will take 16 months for us to get
851
00:44:19,768 --> 00:44:21,768
that data back to Earth.
852
00:44:23,834 --> 00:44:27,292
- [Voiceover] By 2017,
New Horizons will be deep
853
00:44:27,292 --> 00:44:31,033
in a realm of far-flung chunks of ice.
854
00:44:31,033 --> 00:44:33,367
But what is this new region?
855
00:44:35,184 --> 00:44:39,656
Science now divides our Solar
System into three zones.
856
00:44:39,656 --> 00:44:43,823
The innermost planets, Mercury,
Venus, Earth, and Mars,
857
00:44:44,859 --> 00:44:48,403
are small, rocky, and close to the Sun.
858
00:44:48,403 --> 00:44:50,881
This is the first zone.
859
00:44:50,881 --> 00:44:54,505
The second zone is the
domain of gas giants,
860
00:44:54,505 --> 00:44:57,755
Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
861
00:44:59,596 --> 00:45:02,263
Tiny Pluto marks the outer edge.
862
00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:07,698
Yet, astronomer Gerard
Kuiper predicts the existence
863
00:45:07,698 --> 00:45:12,091
of a belt of icy bodies
that lie beyond Neptune,
864
00:45:12,091 --> 00:45:14,731
girdling the entire Solar System,
865
00:45:14,731 --> 00:45:17,619
a vast flattened plain of icy bodies
866
00:45:17,619 --> 00:45:19,869
now called the Kuiper Belt.
867
00:45:23,194 --> 00:45:27,345
New Horizons is now making its
way toward its next target:
868
00:45:27,345 --> 00:45:31,579
the Kuiper Belt object designated as PT-1,
869
00:45:31,579 --> 00:45:35,647
a potato-shaped chunk
45 kilometers across,
870
00:45:35,647 --> 00:45:39,814
likely similar to the
Plutonian moons Hydra or Styx.
871
00:45:40,685 --> 00:45:45,321
The rendezvous with PT-1
is set for January 2019.
872
00:45:45,321 --> 00:45:48,210
By then, New Horizons will be another
873
00:45:48,210 --> 00:45:50,293
billion miles from Pluto.
874
00:45:52,110 --> 00:45:54,593
- Another thing that we don't know about
875
00:45:54,593 --> 00:45:58,618
is a small end of the size
population in the Kuiper Belt.
876
00:45:58,618 --> 00:46:00,951
And broken up little bits
of Kuiper Belt objects
877
00:46:00,951 --> 00:46:03,955
are what come in to make comets,
878
00:46:03,955 --> 00:46:07,489
which are tiny tiny little
fragments of Kuiper Belt objects
879
00:46:07,489 --> 00:46:11,918
a kilometer across instead
of the 100 kilometer across.
880
00:46:11,918 --> 00:46:14,647
- [Voiceover] Understanding
the formation and evolution
881
00:46:14,647 --> 00:46:17,332
of our Solar System has come a long way
882
00:46:17,332 --> 00:46:20,582
since the discovery of the Kuiper Belt.
883
00:46:21,768 --> 00:46:23,962
- We know there was a
period of time in the first
884
00:46:23,962 --> 00:46:27,260
billion years that this was
a dangerous place to be,
885
00:46:27,260 --> 00:46:29,941
anywhere in the Solar System.
886
00:46:29,941 --> 00:46:33,442
One epoch in the past of our Solar System,
887
00:46:34,701 --> 00:46:37,834
the giant planets were all moving around.
888
00:46:37,834 --> 00:46:42,061
They were actually plowing
into the original Kuiper Belt.
889
00:46:42,061 --> 00:46:45,888
We're only seeing the remnants
of the Kuiper Belt right now.
890
00:46:45,888 --> 00:46:49,345
And Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
891
00:46:49,345 --> 00:46:50,809
probably plowed into that
892
00:46:50,809 --> 00:46:53,813
and just scattered them
all over the place.
893
00:46:53,813 --> 00:46:56,211
- [Voiceover] These scattered
bodies caused numerous
894
00:46:56,211 --> 00:46:59,911
collisions; most small; some large.
895
00:46:59,911 --> 00:47:02,635
And in the case of Pluto
and one other planet
896
00:47:02,635 --> 00:47:05,854
in our Solar System, there
was a collision big enough
897
00:47:05,854 --> 00:47:08,022
to smash the entire world.
898
00:47:09,028 --> 00:47:11,277
That other planet is Earth.
899
00:47:12,928 --> 00:47:17,849
And from the scattered
debris, our moon was formed.
900
00:47:17,849 --> 00:47:22,119
Astronomers call this period
The Late Heavy Bombardment.
901
00:47:22,119 --> 00:47:25,251
The abundant craters
across the face of the moon
902
00:47:25,251 --> 00:47:29,239
are a testament to the
violence of this epoch.
903
00:47:29,239 --> 00:47:32,046
- [Man] We think that these
large-scale collisions
904
00:47:32,046 --> 00:47:35,921
between planets early in the
Formation Era of Solar Systems
905
00:47:35,921 --> 00:47:37,909
are common; and in computer models,
906
00:47:37,909 --> 00:47:40,348
we see that happens a lot.
907
00:47:40,348 --> 00:47:43,035
- [Man] Here we've got
clues out in the Kuiper Belt
908
00:47:43,035 --> 00:47:46,170
that indicate that's what happened.
909
00:47:46,170 --> 00:47:48,244
- And the fact that we
have more than one example
910
00:47:48,244 --> 00:47:51,825
in our own Solar System
is evidence that adds to
911
00:47:51,825 --> 00:47:54,018
what the computer models
are telling us to say
912
00:47:54,018 --> 00:47:55,279
those models are probably right,
913
00:47:55,279 --> 00:47:57,678
it probably actually does happen a lot.
914
00:47:57,678 --> 00:48:00,689
So systems like Pluto-Charon
915
00:48:00,689 --> 00:48:04,997
or like the Earth-Moon may be
common throughout the Galaxy.
916
00:48:04,997 --> 00:48:06,986
That's one of the exciting
things about going
917
00:48:06,986 --> 00:48:10,157
to Pluto's System is that we're
looking at something that,
918
00:48:10,157 --> 00:48:13,087
although it's far from our Earth
919
00:48:13,087 --> 00:48:15,085
and far from our common experience,
920
00:48:15,085 --> 00:48:18,906
may actually be important
in planetary science
921
00:48:18,906 --> 00:48:21,490
in other solar systems as well.
922
00:48:22,890 --> 00:48:25,613
- [Voiceover] With so much
success exploring Pluto
923
00:48:25,613 --> 00:48:28,573
and the Kuiper Belt, New
Horizons is giving us
924
00:48:28,573 --> 00:48:31,073
an account of our own origins.
925
00:48:32,321 --> 00:48:34,601
And just what kind of
gumption does it take
926
00:48:34,601 --> 00:48:38,058
to send a probe to Pluto, the Kuiper Belt,
927
00:48:38,058 --> 00:48:40,141
and new mysteries beyond?
928
00:48:41,970 --> 00:48:44,219
- It's the curiosity in me.
929
00:48:45,063 --> 00:48:49,197
It's uncovering the mysteries,
things that we don't know.
930
00:48:49,197 --> 00:48:51,865
It's that continuing revelation.
931
00:48:54,856 --> 00:48:58,720
- Each time you see a planet
for the first time ever,
932
00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:00,516
it's really amazing.
933
00:49:00,516 --> 00:49:02,387
There's just so many surprises
934
00:49:02,387 --> 00:49:06,533
and you learn so much more because it was
935
00:49:06,533 --> 00:49:08,932
a distant point of light and
now suddenly it's a world
936
00:49:08,932 --> 00:49:11,577
that you have maps of and
you can count the craters
937
00:49:11,577 --> 00:49:15,494
and you can see what's
going on on the surface.
938
00:49:19,831 --> 00:49:23,047
- [Voiceover] Only one nation
has, in the past 50 years,
939
00:49:23,047 --> 00:49:25,482
opened the entire Solar System,
940
00:49:25,482 --> 00:49:28,981
and is now probing the Kuiper Belt.
941
00:49:28,981 --> 00:49:31,663
- In that 50 years the
United States swept across
942
00:49:31,663 --> 00:49:34,426
the entirety of our Solar System
943
00:49:34,426 --> 00:49:38,413
and was first to every
planet in the Solar System.
944
00:49:38,413 --> 00:49:41,430
And as a result of that, we
not only make huge discoveries
945
00:49:41,430 --> 00:49:44,355
about nature and about
the formation of our place
946
00:49:44,355 --> 00:49:48,015
in the universe, our home Solar System,
947
00:49:48,015 --> 00:49:51,273
but we also made a great
impression, I think,
948
00:49:51,273 --> 00:49:55,440
across the world for what our
society and our country does.
949
00:49:57,009 --> 00:49:59,943
- [Voiceover] Yet, for all
the skeptics and cynics,
950
00:49:59,943 --> 00:50:02,110
New Horizons is the reply.
951
00:50:04,497 --> 00:50:08,358
- People often ask if we're
as good as we used to be,
952
00:50:08,358 --> 00:50:10,229
if we're on our game,
953
00:50:10,229 --> 00:50:13,197
if America is the same America
954
00:50:13,197 --> 00:50:15,271
that did things like Apollo,
955
00:50:15,271 --> 00:50:17,912
that New Horizons is an example, I think,
956
00:50:17,912 --> 00:50:20,799
of what we do best: making history,
957
00:50:20,799 --> 00:50:24,965
developing new knowledge,
and doing it for all mankind.
958
00:50:26,948 --> 00:50:29,590
- [Voiceover] Each week, new
knowledge will be gained,
959
00:50:29,590 --> 00:50:33,757
until all of the data is finished
downloading in early 2017.
960
00:50:36,592 --> 00:50:39,359
Some six months since the encounter,
961
00:50:39,359 --> 00:50:42,367
the latest pictures reveal a world alive
962
00:50:42,367 --> 00:50:46,450
with bizarre forms of
geology not known on Earth.
963
00:50:48,264 --> 00:50:50,991
Here, scientists think
is one of the largest
964
00:50:50,991 --> 00:50:53,814
cryovolcanoes in our Solar System.
965
00:50:53,814 --> 00:50:57,353
The Ralph Camera reveals
mysterious red splotches
966
00:50:57,353 --> 00:50:59,552
around the volcano.
967
00:50:59,552 --> 00:51:02,157
The region must be geologically active,
968
00:51:02,157 --> 00:51:06,158
because only one lone
impact crater can be seen,
969
00:51:07,557 --> 00:51:10,223
their origin and nature unknown.
970
00:51:14,467 --> 00:51:18,330
The New Horizons project is a
juggernaut of determination,
971
00:51:18,330 --> 00:51:20,527
patience, and planning;
972
00:51:20,527 --> 00:51:23,942
a fusion of engineering and science;
973
00:51:23,942 --> 00:51:28,665
and it is the ultimate
expression of our curiosity,
974
00:51:28,665 --> 00:51:32,284
reaching into the high
plains of the Kuiper Belt
975
00:51:32,284 --> 00:51:34,616
and into deep space beyond.
74647
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