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PLUTO REDISCOVERED

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National Geographic Channel
Naked Science
Pluto Rediscovered.
Airdate: March 22, 2008

Pluto resides on the outer edges of the solar system, 3 billion miles from earth. It's so remote that even using the world's most powerful space telescope, the Hubble, it appears as nothing but a blurred blob. Naked Science meets the scientists who, despite having little to go by, have dedicated their studies to finding out about this mysterious world. The programme paints a vivid picture of what Pluto might be like. It gives a rounded argument on Pluto's planetary status and looks at the groundbreaking technology of the New Horizons spacecraft which is currently embarking on its nine and a half year, 3 billion mile journey to Pluto to find out more.

New Horizons, a space exploration satellite slotted for launch in 2006, will be making a 9 year journey to finally map out Pluto, the only planet in our Solar System that hasn't been visited by a satellite. It will be arriving in 2015, but will start taking images of its approach in 2014. It is expected that three months before it reaches its initial destination, useful mapping images will be coming back to Earth. Pluto is currently the 9th planet from the Sun.

Or is it?

Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, and it was, for the next 62 years, the farthest object observed in the Solar System. Then, in 1992, another object was discovered in an asteroid belt known as the Kuiper Belt that lies outside of Neptune's orbit. Since then, over 1,000 objects have been discovered, one of which is possibly twice the size of Pluto. There are even theories there may be Mars sized objects, or even Earth sized objects in the belt.

This has led to a question of classification of Pluto as a planet. While all 8 of the other planets' orbits lie in the same plane, Pluto's is outside the plane by 17.1 degrees. Its orbit is also skewed, sometimes coming closer to the Sun than Neptune, other times lying farther away.

One purpose of this expedition is to map the surface of Pluto, which is probably the most fascinating aspect to the public. However, the more exciting and interesting job of New Horizons is to explore other objects in the Kuiper Belt and perhaps unlock some of the mysteries surrounding it.
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