Monday, July 13, 2015

NASA's "Eyes on Pluto" real-time app

"Eyes on Pluto" is a JPL/NASA desktop app for Windows and Macs that can show you, in realistic real time animation, exactly what the New Horizons spacecraft is doing, and seeing.

A preview mode gives you a speeded-up look at the gyrations New Horizons will go through to map and measure Pluto and its moons during tomorrow morning's closest encounter.

You also can choose your point of view: "spacecraft" (New Horizon's own view); "ride along" (a point near the spacecraft; now not much different from the spacecraft view); and "overview" (which lets you see the weird, lumpy orbits of Pluto's moons, caused by the fact that Pluto and its major moon as actually almost a binary planet.

Today (Monday July 13 2015), 24 hours before closest approach, I think the best view is "preview" and "spacecraft." Let it run for a couple minutes; wait and watch. It's worth it!

Free download: http://eyes.jpl.nasa.gov/eyes-on-pluto.html

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