Comments on: Pluto and Charon come out of the dark https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/pluto-and-charon-come-out-of-the-dark/ Thu, 05 Feb 2026 21:18:17 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Edward https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/pluto-and-charon-come-out-of-the-dark/#comment-1628472 Thu, 05 Feb 2026 21:18:17 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=121300#comment-1628472 “… and yet Alan Stern’s team and APL did it, on budget and on schedule.”

The schedule was all important. In the mid or late 1990s, planetary scientists realized that if we were to investigate Pluto’s atmosphere, we had to get a probe out there before that atmosphere condensed out onto the surface. Thus, timing was all important. If we didn’t get a probe there now, then it would be a couple of centuries before the atmosphere again vaporized into existence.

]]> By: Robert Zimmerman https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/pluto-and-charon-come-out-of-the-dark/#comment-1628395 Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:44:59 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=121300#comment-1628395 In reply to Ray Van Dune.

Ray Van Dune: Typo fixed. Thank you.

]]> By: Ray Van Dune https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/pluto-and-charon-come-out-of-the-dark/#comment-1628393 Wed, 04 Feb 2026 14:56:45 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=121300#comment-1628393 A tiny glitch: ” … I found the picture to the right, taken on July 10, 2025…”

I’m sure you meant 2015, as in the previous sentence. Great work anyway, Bob!

]]> By: Dick Eagleson https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/pluto-and-charon-come-out-of-the-dark/#comment-1628378 Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:39:02 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=121300#comment-1628378 New Horizons should have been a model, both scientifically and managerially, for every other NASA deep space mission that followed. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Another item on Jared’s ‘to-do’ list.

]]> By: Richard M https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/pluto-and-charon-come-out-of-the-dark/#comment-1628355 Wed, 04 Feb 2026 02:00:16 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=121300#comment-1628355

Yes, and that makes New Horizons all the more amazing.

Yeah, it really is.

We all are frequently critical of NASA and how it does some of its science, but New Horizons really is an achievement that the science mission directorate can take real pride in pulling off. It had to go visit a world (actually, a set of worlds, since it wasn’t just Pluto but all of its moons, with Arrakoth later thrown in for good measure) farther away than humans and their robots had ever visited before, and do it with a less than flagship budget; and yet Alan Stern’s team and APL did it, on budget and on schedule. A lot of great science packed into that little probe. Worth every dollar and then some, I think.

]]> By: Ronaldus Magnus https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/pluto-and-charon-come-out-of-the-dark/#comment-1628335 Tue, 03 Feb 2026 22:25:18 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=121300#comment-1628335 “””I have decided to start delving into the archives of some of the older planetary missions””

Robert, what I am about to say has a heavy dose of tongue-in-cheek, while at the same time some seriousness. New Horizons in the Older Planetary Missions category?? New Horizons seems like yesterday for those of us who remember the Mercury Seven. The books and podcasts from the main people involved in New Horizons are amazing!

Richard M: “”It’s a pity that we’ve really only had one spacecraft to investigate it so far.””

Yes, and that makes New Horizons all the more amazing.

]]> By: Richard M https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/pluto-and-charon-come-out-of-the-dark/#comment-1628323 Tue, 03 Feb 2026 21:28:17 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=121300#comment-1628323 “These two objects have been together for billions of years, in the same orbit, but they are totally different.”

The Kuiper Belt appears to a *very* fascinating part of the Solar System, one whose existence we did not even suspect only a generation ago. It’s a puty that we’ve really only had one spacecraft to investigate it so far.

It’s not easy or fast or cheap to get out there, either, so it’s gonna be a while before our next closeup look at it.

]]> By: F https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/pluto-and-charon-come-out-of-the-dark/#comment-1628320 Tue, 03 Feb 2026 20:48:40 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=121300#comment-1628320 I just took a look at the original image Bob has provided, and contemplated how far from Earth they are, the cold empty space around them, and the billions of years this has been so.

Chilling, literally and figuratively.

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