Pluto revealed by New Horizons on 14 July

Artist’s impression showing New Horizons passing Pluto on 14 July 2015.Credit: JHU/APL – NASA

On its discovery in 1930 by the American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto was considered a fully-fledged planet; the ninth in our solar system and the most distant. In 2006, it was downgraded to a dwarf planet, but is no less important, an unknown world that will soon be revealed to us by the New Horizons spacecraft (see also this full feature).
The recording of the “Toulouse, Capitale des étoiles” [Toulouse, Capital of the Stars] radio programme in French with Olivier Sanguy of the Cité de l’Espace and Matthieu Soldano of France Bleu Toulouse is below.

From Monday 13 to Thursday 16 July, “Mission monitoring” and an original programme will share the flyby of Pluto at the Cité de l’Espace.
Indeed, the Cité de l’Espace will share the highlights and initial discoveries of this mission with the general public, including the countdown, mission images and relaying the NASA operations taking place, live explanations by the Cité de l’Espace team and commentary. Original presentations and demonstrations have been designed by the Cité de l’Espace guides to enable everyone to understand the many original features of Pluto.
The event will be attended by special guests, especially on the 14 July and the night of 16 July.  These guests will include individuals who have been involved in major missions to explore the solar system.
– Philippe Gaudon, Project Leader for the Rosetta mission at the French space agency, CNES,
– Sylvestre Maurice, astrophysicist-planetologist at the University Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier IRAP/OMP/CNRS, Manager of ChemCam on the Martian robot, Curiosity,
– Mickael Toplis, astrophysicist at the University Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier IRAP/OMP/CNRS for the Dawn spacecraft on the dwarf planet Ceres,
– Jean-Pierre Lebreton, ESA Project Scientist for the Huygens mission to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon,
– Henri Reme, Emeritus Professor of astrophysics and researcher on cometary missions at the University Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier IRAP/OMP/CNRS,
– Jean-Jacques Favier, CNES astronaut for manned exploration missions.

Thursday 16 July will mark the Cité de l’Espace’s first late night opening of the summer for 2015. Until 27 August, every Thursday, the Cité de l’Espace will be fully open until 23:00h with a closing fireworks display.
However, on July 16, the first new images of Pluto by New Horizons will arrive and this will be an opportunity to comment and reflect on the spacecraft’s flyby of the dwarf planet. On this occasion, the guests referred to above will be present.

Practical information
Access: paid admission to the Cité de l’Espace at the usual prices www.cite-espace.com.
Cité de l’Espace opening times: Monday 13 to Wednesday 15 July, 10:00h to 18:00h and late night on Thursday 16 July until 23:00h.

Published 25 June 2015