Pluto and Beyond 2019

     New Horizons is a small spacecraft designed by NASA to study Pluto and the outer fringes of our solar system.  It was launched from Cape Canaveral on January 19, 2006.  It made a rendezvous with Pluto in 2015.  This craft traveled further away from earth than any spacecraft has ever explored.  Images of Jupiter’s swirling clouds and Little Red Spot were sent back on the way to Pluto.  Later, stunning photos were received showing Pluto’s atmosphere, the massive glacier and mountains of ice.  It’s possible that Pluto could have an ocean and if there is water, there could be life?  There were challenges and risks of flying by the mysterious Kuiper Belt object known as Ultima Thule.  The Hubble Space Telescope was used to search for Ultima Thule on June 26. 2014.  This name means beyond the known world.  New Horizons also did a fly by on January 1, 2019.        

     Clyde Tombaugh, an American farm boy, discovered Pluto in 1930.  In August of 2006, Pluto was downgraded from its status as a planet and it is now known as a dwarf planet.  The orbit around the sun takes 248 years and it’s an elongated orbit path.  Only the rocky worlds of the inner Solar System and the gas giants of the outer system will be designated as planets.  Updates were added to this episode before broadcast.  I thought everything about this episode was informative and interesting.  The teams working on this project are very dedicated and enthusiastic too.  4 ½* (I really liked this episode. 

This is a 60-minute episode of Nova airing on January 2, 2019. 

Note: Directed and written by Terri Randall with Craig Sechler.  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, Amazon 5* with one review, Amazon give the book 5* with one review.

Special Note:  There is also a book with the same title published in July of 2018 written by Elaine Scott.