SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Phys.org has just published a story, Pluto extreme close-up best yet:
These images, which were taken while the New Horizon's probe was still 15,850 km (9,850 mi) away from Pluto (just 23 minutes before it made its closest approach), extend across the hemisphere that the probe was facing as it flew past. It shows features ranging from the cratered northern uplands and the mountainous regions in Voyager Terra before slicing through the flatlands of "Pluto's Heart" – aka. Tombaugh Regio – and ending up in another stretch of rugged highlands.
The width of the strip varies as the images pass from north to south, from more than 90 km (55 mi) across at the northern end to about 75 km (45 mi) at its southern point. The perspective also changes, with the view appearing virtually horizontal at the northern end and then shifting to an almost top-down view onto the surface by the end.
The crystal clear photographs that make up the mosaic – which have a resolution of about 80 meters (260 feet) per pixel – offer the most detailed view of Pluto's surface ever. With this kind of clarity, NASA scientists are able to discern features that were never before visible, and learn things about the kinds of geological processes which formed them.
This includes the chaotic nature of the mountains in the northern hemisphere, and the varied nature of the icy nitrogen plains across Tombaugh Regio – which go from being cellular, to non-cellular, to a cross-bedding pattern. These features are a further indication that Pluto's surface is the product of a combination of geological forces, such as cryovolcanism, sublimation, geological activity, convection between water and nitrogen ice, and interaction between the surface and atmosphere.
[...] The most distant flyby in the history of space exploration, and yet we've obtained more from this one mission than multiple flybys were able to provide from one of Earth's closest neighbors. Fascinating! And what's more, new information is expected to be coming from the New Horizons probe until this coming October. To top it off, our scientists are still not finished analyzing all the information the mission collected during its flyby.
(Alan Stern, the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission and the Associate Vice President of Research and Development at the Southwest Research Institute)
On July 14, 2015, at 11:49 UTC, the New Horizons space craft made its closest approach of 12,500 km (7,800 mi) above the surface of Pluto with a relative velocity of 13.78 km/s (49,600 km/h; 30,800 mph). This transpired at a distance of 4.5 light-hours from Earth, i.e. approximately 4.8×1012km away.
Direct link to the eye candy image and a silent, but annotated, video of the fly by identifying characteristics of each region.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Tuesday May 31 2016, @10:01PM
The US Postal Service released today [nytimes.com] "forever" postage stamps that commemorate the New Horizon's encounter with Pluto. (The links in the article to buy them are bad; go here [usps.com] if you want to buy some.)
For those non-Americans here, a "Forever" stamp is a postage stamp good for mailing an ounce (28.35 grams) anywhere in the United States and anywhere else the USPS delivers mail (e.g., Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, and a few other places). You know what "mail" is. It what you use to send messages if you don't want them to be read by the NSA.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday June 01 2016, @12:00AM
and a few other places
Like everywhere on planet earth with a functional postal system.
Forever stamps are not just a US and US territory thing any more, and haven't been for about 10 years. Originally there was a problem in that foreign postal systems were taught to look for a currency amount on the stamp, and reject it if none was found.
Worldwide Postal Treaties had to be rewritten to accommodate the Word "Forever" and a Flag. They were ancient and out of date.
Not just a US thing. A few other countries also have stamps that bear no currency symbols, and used colors or symbols or Flags to denominate value.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Wednesday June 01 2016, @12:18AM
Uh, I really don't want to split hairs, but I will because it's fun sometimes.
While other countries have the concept of a "forever" stamp, I suspect most don't call them that.
Second of all, I believe that most countries have their own postal services, and because of that international rates apply to most of them. The exceptions for things mailed from the US are Canada and Mexico, as the US maintains separate postal treaties with them, and a few island nations in the Pacific. The USPS operates there and for that reason domestic postal rates apply. The "Forever" stamps I was referring to is good for an ounce of domestic mail, including any place where the USPS operates. While you can use domestic "forever" stamps for international postage, the postage is considerably higher. Compare $0.47 to $1.15.
And, yes, I do know about the "international forever stamp".
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday June 01 2016, @01:48AM
The "Forever" stamps I was referring to is good for an ounce of domestic mail, including any place where the USPS operates. While you can use domestic "forever" stamps for international postage, the postage is considerably higher.
Hair splitting. All Forever stamps are the same value: 47 Cents (check your watch).
There are lots of them to choose from. [usps.com]
The price of a first class letter to Italy has always been higher even when using denominational stamps. The price does not vary based on the stamps you use, only by the weight and destination. The Forever stamp is a 47 cent stamp. Period.
Mailing to somewhere that needs more postage, either put on a couple more, or reach for your cache of denominational stamps.
There was a time when you couldn't use a Forever stamp for non-domestic mail, but that time is long past.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Wednesday June 01 2016, @03:12AM
I think that is what I said.
Of course. I have been getting the catalogs in the mail for years and I just ordered some more stamps today, including the Pluto stamps. I regularly write letters to prisoners as well as ordinary correspondents who know the joy of receiving an honest-to-goodness letter in the mail and enjoy the wide variety of stamps available. My current favorite is the Elvis forever stamp.
Strictly speaking, a forever stamp is worth whatever the first ounce of first class mail costs at the time it's used. Right now it's 47 cents. Before April 10th it was 49 cents (it actually went down, something that hasn't happened since World War One). Who knows what it will be next year.
I think we've hashed this subject out enough now.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.