Alan Stern
Alan Stern
Sol Alan Sternis an American engineer and planetary scientist. He is the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Chief Scientist at Moon Express...
believe classify objects planetary properties
I don't believe we should classify planetary objects by location. We should use properties of the objects as a guide.
brightest fossil objects pluto relic solar
Pluto is just the brightest of the many objects in the Kuiper Belt. It's a fossil relic of the formation of our solar system.
criteria moon object objects small solar system whether
Whether or not an object has a moon is not part of the criteria that we've considered, because so many small objects in the solar system have moons,
belt ice objects planet pluto solar type typical
We know of 17 objects that could be called planets, most of which are ice dwarfs. So Pluto is typical of what is probably the most populous type of planet in our solar system. It probably mimics other Kuiper Belt objects.
belt looking multiple objects percent satellite
Around 20 percent of Kuiper Belt objects have a moon. We think a lot of astronomers are going to be looking now for multiple satellite systems.
arrive candy kids shop system
We're going to be like kids in a candy shop when we arrive at a system like this.
history initial states united
The United States is going to go down in history for the initial reconnaissance of the planets.
close high inner map planets regions resolution sensitive sky sun though wide
Even though it's not as sensitive or as high resolution as the Hubble, we're able to look at the inner planets close to the sun and map wide regions of the sky very quickly.
four gas giants inner learned outer planets pluto rocky understand view
We've learned that the view of four inner rocky planets and four outer gas giants and one misfit Pluto is wrong. Now we understand Pluto's context.
backup days hill launching mean power three
I ... was not comfortable with launching without backup power. I've been working on this for 17 years ... Two or three days doesn't mean a hill of beans.
air flight sitting
The air conditioning was off. The flight controllers were sitting there wiping sweat.
ashes pluto
Some of Clyde's ashes are on their way to Pluto today.
collapse happen matter models
Some models say the collapse can be very sudden. It can happen in a matter of months.
arrival certain date july quite
I have July 14, 2015, emblazoned on my calendar. That's our arrival date at Pluto. We are now quite certain of that.