A rendering of Pluto and Charon
Courtesy of NASA
We talk to Dr. Alan Stern, the leader of NASA’s mission to Pluto – New Horizons. He’s been working on the mission for over 20 years and he’s excited to see the surprises that New Horizons will be sending back. Plus: We take the Brains On time machine for a test drive.
New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006 and is expected to fly by Pluto on July 14, 2015. Just 10 days before the fly-by date NASA lost communications with New Horizons — but they plan for things like this to happen. After about an hour and 20 minutes, they reestablished contact.
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SUBJECT 1: Brains On!
MOLLY BLOOM: From NPR News in Southern California Public Radio, you're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.
MARC SANCHEZ: Mad crazy serious.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's Brains On producer Marc Sanchez. Hi, Marc.
MARC SANCHEZ: Hey, Molly.
MOLLY BLOOM: And it looks like you brought along a-- I don't know. What is it?
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, this? You mean the Brains On time machine. Yeah, I brought this.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, it looks kind of just like a bunch of old cereal boxes held together by-- I don't-- what is that?
MARC SANCHEZ: Looks may be deceiving, Molly. But in this case, I guess you're right. It is a bunch of old cereal boxes, and it's held together by duct tape. But it's just a prototype. And the duct tape is pretty strong.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. So where are we going to go?
MARC SANCHEZ: Well, I wanted to take it on a little test drive, but I didn't want to go too far. I was thinking January 19th, 2006.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, yes. I remember it well. The launch of NASAs New Horizons mission to Pluto.
MARC SANCHEZ: All right. Let's fire this baby up. Button, button, button.
MOLLY BLOOM: Why are you saying button?
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, that's just the sound I program for all the buttons on this jalopy-- I mean, time machine.
MOLLY BLOOM: Are you sure this is safe?
MARC SANCHEZ: Button.
Molly, I think we made it.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, there's the rocket.
SUBJECT 2: 4, 3, 2, 1. We have ignition and liftoff of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft on a decade-long voyage to visit the planet Pluto and then beyond.
MARC SANCHEZ: Just think, on July 14th, 2015, the payload on that rocket will be flying by Pluto, taking some of the most incredible pictures we have ever seen.
MOLLY BLOOM: July 14th, 2015, that's like now.
MARC SANCHEZ: What do you mean? This is January 19th, 2006.
MOLLY BLOOM: I know. But when we left, it was July 10th, 2015. It was almost time for New Horizons to fly by Pluto.
MARC SANCHEZ: You're right. We have to get back to then.
MOLLY BLOOM: Get back to now.
MARC SANCHEZ: Yeah. Button, button, button, button, button, button.
MOLLY BLOOM: A little faster that time.
MARC SANCHEZ: But we're back now.
MOLLY BLOOM: The present.
MARC SANCHEZ: Well, no time like the present to find out how the New Horizons mission is going. We talked to planetary scientist Alan Stern. He's in charge of the mission to Pluto.
MOLLY BLOOM: But before we hear from him, I want everybody to be listening for the answers to the following questions. Number one, from where was New Horizons launched? Number two, how many billion miles will it have traveled to get to Pluto?
MARC SANCHEZ: And number three, how many moons do we think Pluto has? Bonus points for naming them all.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah. And bonus bonus points for telling us which US State is closest in size to Pluto's largest moon. OK. Onto Alan Stern.
ALAN STERN: Hi, I'm Alan Stern. I'm a planetary scientist, and I'm the leader of NASA's mission to Pluto and its moons called New Horizons.
MARC SANCHEZ: Pluto is in focus right now, but this mission is even bigger.
MOLLY BLOOM: Pluto is part of the Kuiper Belt, which scientists think is where our solar system began.
MARC SANCHEZ: And even though Alan Stern can pretty much only think about Pluto right now, he's not necessarily in love with it.
ALAN STERN: Exploration is my first love. And Pluto happens to be the subject of the exploration that New Horizons is doing. And New Horizons is the first mission to explore Pluto and the small planets of the Kuiper Belt. We started New Horizons in 2001. And even before that, for more than 10 years, I was a part of the studies for planning how you could do a Pluto mission.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It took off from Florida in January of 2006. It was the fastest spacecraft ever launched and has been speeding across 3 billion miles of space the entirety of our solar system to the very frontier where Pluto orbits, and it will arrive in July to make the first reconnaissance images and other types of data about Pluto and all five of its moons, maybe even more moons that we could discover.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Starting in April, in fact, we've been getting images that are better than anything you can make from the Earth. They get better every week. It will all culminate on July the 14th when the spacecraft dives deeper into the Pluto system than any of its moons orbit. Passing between Pluto and its largest moon called Charon, which is about the size of Texas, by the way. It's going to collect an enormous amount of data in the days surrounding the flyby and on flyby day itself, the 14th of July. And then it will start to download that data the next day. But we are going to collect so much information that it's actually going to take well over a year to get it all back to the Earth.
So every week we'll bring new surprises, new images, and spectra, and other kinds of information about the Pluto system the rest of 2015 and most of 2016.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We have a sort of a track record in planetary science when we make these first missions, like to Mars and Venus in the 60s, and Jupiter in the 70s, and Saturn, and Uranus, and Neptune in the 80s, that we get surprised a lot. When we get up close, we see things we couldn't even predict. What we already know is that Pluto has at least five satellites, a polar cap, seasons, an atmosphere made of nitrogen, a lot like the Earths, but a lot colder, snows that move around on the surface, and maybe an ocean on its inside, and it's orbited by 5 other worlds called its moons.
Charon is the big one. It and Pluto constitute a double planet, but there are also four little ones, and they have the following names, Nix, and Hydra, and Styx, and Kerberos, and they're all from Greek mythology. Exploration really rocks.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MARC SANCHEZ: Part of preparing for exploration is getting ready for mistakes, and just 10 days before the flyby date.
MOLLY BLOOM: On July 4th, 2015--
MARC SANCHEZ: NASA's lost communications with New Horizons. But they planned for things like this to happen.
MOLLY BLOOM: After about an hour and 20 minutes, they re-establish contact.
MARC SANCHEZ: And the crew is trying to initiate a plan to make sure the flyby happens as scheduled.
MOLLY BLOOM: If you're listening to this before July 14th, 2015, be on the lookout for news about New Horizons.
MARC SANCHEZ: And if July 14th, 2015, is in the past, well, no worries. Data is going to be streaming back to us for years.
MOLLY BLOOM: So did you guys catch the answers to all those questions? Where was New Horizons launched from? How many billion miles will it have traveled to get to Pluto? And how many moons do we think Pluto has?
MARC SANCHEZ: We have a little quiz ready for you at our website to test your knowledge BrainsOn.org.
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks, Marc, for telling us all about New Horizons.
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, no problem.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Now it's time for some exploration with your ears. It's time for the mystery sound.
SUBJECT 3: Mystery sound.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
Any guesses? I'll give you a hint. It's not an insect. Does that change your guess? We'll be back with the answer in just a bit.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Do you have any questions you want answered on Brains On, a drawing to share with us, or maybe you just want to tell us about some of the things that interest you? Send us an email. We're at BrainsOn@M-- as in Minnesota, --PR.org. And if you're interested in getting emails from us, you can subscribe to our newsletter at our website BrainOn.org. We'll let you know about new episodes, experiments, videos, and events. You can also keep up with us on Instagram and Twitter @Brains-- underscore --on, and we're on Facebook too. And now it's time to induct the latest group onto the Brains honor roll.
These are the extremely excellent kids who keep this show going with their emails, letters, drawings, and questions. Here they are.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Now, back to the mystery sound. Let's hear it one more time.
Any other guesses? Here with the answer is 8-year-old Abby. She's from Oaxaca, Mexico, but she recorded this sound while she was visiting her grandparents in New Jersey. That was the sound of--
ABBY: Frogs. The frogs are from New Jersey, and they are cricket frogs. They are small, dark green in color. They sound that way because they're calling out to female frogs. I'm Abby, and I'm 8 years old from Oaxaca, Mexico.
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks, Abby. And thanks to all of you for listening. We'll be back with more answers to your questions very soon.
SUBJECT 4: Ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, Brains On!
MARC SANCHEZ: Button.
MOLLY BLOOM: From NPR News in Southern California Public Radio, you're listening to Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.
MARC SANCHEZ: Mad crazy serious.
MOLLY BLOOM: That's Brains On producer Marc Sanchez. Hi, Marc.
MARC SANCHEZ: Hey, Molly.
MOLLY BLOOM: And it looks like you brought along a-- I don't know. What is it?
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, this? You mean the Brains On time machine. Yeah, I brought this.
MOLLY BLOOM: Well, it looks kind of just like a bunch of old cereal boxes held together by-- I don't-- what is that?
MARC SANCHEZ: Looks may be deceiving, Molly. But in this case, I guess you're right. It is a bunch of old cereal boxes, and it's held together by duct tape. But it's just a prototype. And the duct tape is pretty strong.
MOLLY BLOOM: OK. So where are we going to go?
MARC SANCHEZ: Well, I wanted to take it on a little test drive, but I didn't want to go too far. I was thinking January 19th, 2006.
MOLLY BLOOM: Oh, yes. I remember it well. The launch of NASAs New Horizons mission to Pluto.
MARC SANCHEZ: All right. Let's fire this baby up. Button, button, button.
MOLLY BLOOM: Why are you saying button?
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, that's just the sound I program for all the buttons on this jalopy-- I mean, time machine.
MOLLY BLOOM: Are you sure this is safe?
MARC SANCHEZ: Button.
Molly, I think we made it.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah, there's the rocket.
SUBJECT 2: 4, 3, 2, 1. We have ignition and liftoff of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft on a decade-long voyage to visit the planet Pluto and then beyond.
MARC SANCHEZ: Just think, on July 14th, 2015, the payload on that rocket will be flying by Pluto, taking some of the most incredible pictures we have ever seen.
MOLLY BLOOM: July 14th, 2015, that's like now.
MARC SANCHEZ: What do you mean? This is January 19th, 2006.
MOLLY BLOOM: I know. But when we left, it was July 10th, 2015. It was almost time for New Horizons to fly by Pluto.
MARC SANCHEZ: You're right. We have to get back to then.
MOLLY BLOOM: Get back to now.
MARC SANCHEZ: Yeah. Button, button, button, button, button, button.
MOLLY BLOOM: A little faster that time.
MARC SANCHEZ: But we're back now.
MOLLY BLOOM: The present.
MARC SANCHEZ: Well, no time like the present to find out how the New Horizons mission is going. We talked to planetary scientist Alan Stern. He's in charge of the mission to Pluto.
MOLLY BLOOM: But before we hear from him, I want everybody to be listening for the answers to the following questions. Number one, from where was New Horizons launched? Number two, how many billion miles will it have traveled to get to Pluto?
MARC SANCHEZ: And number three, how many moons do we think Pluto has? Bonus points for naming them all.
MOLLY BLOOM: Yeah. And bonus bonus points for telling us which US State is closest in size to Pluto's largest moon. OK. Onto Alan Stern.
ALAN STERN: Hi, I'm Alan Stern. I'm a planetary scientist, and I'm the leader of NASA's mission to Pluto and its moons called New Horizons.
MARC SANCHEZ: Pluto is in focus right now, but this mission is even bigger.
MOLLY BLOOM: Pluto is part of the Kuiper Belt, which scientists think is where our solar system began.
MARC SANCHEZ: And even though Alan Stern can pretty much only think about Pluto right now, he's not necessarily in love with it.
ALAN STERN: Exploration is my first love. And Pluto happens to be the subject of the exploration that New Horizons is doing. And New Horizons is the first mission to explore Pluto and the small planets of the Kuiper Belt. We started New Horizons in 2001. And even before that, for more than 10 years, I was a part of the studies for planning how you could do a Pluto mission.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It took off from Florida in January of 2006. It was the fastest spacecraft ever launched and has been speeding across 3 billion miles of space the entirety of our solar system to the very frontier where Pluto orbits, and it will arrive in July to make the first reconnaissance images and other types of data about Pluto and all five of its moons, maybe even more moons that we could discover.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Starting in April, in fact, we've been getting images that are better than anything you can make from the Earth. They get better every week. It will all culminate on July the 14th when the spacecraft dives deeper into the Pluto system than any of its moons orbit. Passing between Pluto and its largest moon called Charon, which is about the size of Texas, by the way. It's going to collect an enormous amount of data in the days surrounding the flyby and on flyby day itself, the 14th of July. And then it will start to download that data the next day. But we are going to collect so much information that it's actually going to take well over a year to get it all back to the Earth.
So every week we'll bring new surprises, new images, and spectra, and other kinds of information about the Pluto system the rest of 2015 and most of 2016.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We have a sort of a track record in planetary science when we make these first missions, like to Mars and Venus in the 60s, and Jupiter in the 70s, and Saturn, and Uranus, and Neptune in the 80s, that we get surprised a lot. When we get up close, we see things we couldn't even predict. What we already know is that Pluto has at least five satellites, a polar cap, seasons, an atmosphere made of nitrogen, a lot like the Earths, but a lot colder, snows that move around on the surface, and maybe an ocean on its inside, and it's orbited by 5 other worlds called its moons.
Charon is the big one. It and Pluto constitute a double planet, but there are also four little ones, and they have the following names, Nix, and Hydra, and Styx, and Kerberos, and they're all from Greek mythology. Exploration really rocks.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MARC SANCHEZ: Part of preparing for exploration is getting ready for mistakes, and just 10 days before the flyby date.
MOLLY BLOOM: On July 4th, 2015--
MARC SANCHEZ: NASA's lost communications with New Horizons. But they planned for things like this to happen.
MOLLY BLOOM: After about an hour and 20 minutes, they re-establish contact.
MARC SANCHEZ: And the crew is trying to initiate a plan to make sure the flyby happens as scheduled.
MOLLY BLOOM: If you're listening to this before July 14th, 2015, be on the lookout for news about New Horizons.
MARC SANCHEZ: And if July 14th, 2015, is in the past, well, no worries. Data is going to be streaming back to us for years.
MOLLY BLOOM: So did you guys catch the answers to all those questions? Where was New Horizons launched from? How many billion miles will it have traveled to get to Pluto? And how many moons do we think Pluto has?
MARC SANCHEZ: We have a little quiz ready for you at our website to test your knowledge BrainsOn.org.
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks, Marc, for telling us all about New Horizons.
MARC SANCHEZ: Oh, no problem.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MOLLY BLOOM: Now it's time for some exploration with your ears. It's time for the mystery sound.
SUBJECT 3: Mystery sound.
MOLLY BLOOM: Here it is.
Any guesses? I'll give you a hint. It's not an insect. Does that change your guess? We'll be back with the answer in just a bit.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Do you have any questions you want answered on Brains On, a drawing to share with us, or maybe you just want to tell us about some of the things that interest you? Send us an email. We're at BrainsOn@M-- as in Minnesota, --PR.org. And if you're interested in getting emails from us, you can subscribe to our newsletter at our website BrainOn.org. We'll let you know about new episodes, experiments, videos, and events. You can also keep up with us on Instagram and Twitter @Brains-- underscore --on, and we're on Facebook too. And now it's time to induct the latest group onto the Brains honor roll.
These are the extremely excellent kids who keep this show going with their emails, letters, drawings, and questions. Here they are.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[LISTING HONOR ROLL]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Now, back to the mystery sound. Let's hear it one more time.
Any other guesses? Here with the answer is 8-year-old Abby. She's from Oaxaca, Mexico, but she recorded this sound while she was visiting her grandparents in New Jersey. That was the sound of--
ABBY: Frogs. The frogs are from New Jersey, and they are cricket frogs. They are small, dark green in color. They sound that way because they're calling out to female frogs. I'm Abby, and I'm 8 years old from Oaxaca, Mexico.
MOLLY BLOOM: Thanks, Abby. And thanks to all of you for listening. We'll be back with more answers to your questions very soon.
SUBJECT 4: Ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba, Brains On!
MARC SANCHEZ: Button.
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