‘These missions are YOUR missions’: NASA’s Pluto team and their uber cool AMA

We now know a lot about NASA’s New Horizons, the spacecraft that flew by Pluto nine years after its launch. We also a know a lot about what it has told us about the dwarf planet. We know that in our closest glimpse of Pluto we can see a heart, that it has young icy mountains and that it is geologically active.

But not much is known about the people who planned this mission, stayed with it for more than a decade and celebrated its successful ‘call home’.  So when these New Horizons team participated in a Reddit AMA, it made for a delightful read.

It told us more about the men and women who made it to Pluto (metaphorically), their hopes for the mission and reactions to its success, showing us once again the potential of human imagination.

Among the people who participated were Curt Niebur, NASA Program Scientist, Jillian Redfern, Senior Research Analyst, New Horizons Science Operations, Kelsi Singer, Post-Doc, New Horizons Science Team, Amanda Zangari, Post-Doc, New Horizons Science Team and Stuart Robbins, Research Scientist, New Horizons Science Team.

We learnt what they ate during the stressful times, what hopes they have for the future generation, their place in the universe and how the Pluto fly stands next to the moon landing.

Members of the @NASANewHorizons science team are ready to take your questions in a @Reddit_AMA now. pic.twitter.com/3S71BRHW2C

— NASA Social (@NASASocial) July 14, 2015

Here are some of the highlights from the NASA New Horizons team’s Reddit AMA

What is the most surprising thing you’ve discovered about Pluto since the mission began?

Charon’s dark pole surprised us quite a bit. We expected Charon’s surface to be mostly uniform and featureless.

What is next for New Horizons?

Next is all of the data download. It will take ~16 months to download the amazing data.

(To which someone very cheekily replied, “MOM HANG UP THE PHONE! I’M TRYING TO DOWNLOAD PLUTO”)

My first daughter is being born in September, and I’m wondering what you think the first mission will be that will give her the same sense of wonder? What’s coming down the pipe in the next 15-20 years or so?

What a great question! I remember holding my newborn son as the first Cassini radar data of Titan was downlinked in the middle of the night. The next big mission that can “grow up” with your daughter is the Europa mission. This mission will investigate if Europa and its huge global ocean is habitable. Take her to the launch in the early 2020’s when she is ~8 years old, then watch the data come in with her when she is a young teenager. - Curt

How does interest in today’s unmanned missions (such as New Horizons) compare to say something like the moon landing? And does the level of public interest factor into funding of these types of projects?

It’s hard to make direct comparisons because the way the public can interact with the missions is so different now. Does live coverage of an event on national TV in the 1960’s equate with websites and twitter feeds updating minute by minute? What I really love about our planetary science missions is that the public can ride along with us, and we want you to join us. These missions are YOUR missions.

How has this mission made you feel in terms of “your place in the universe”?  

That’s a deep question, and sleep deprived people don’t do well with deep philosophical questions! But this mission has really shown how far away from home our spacecraft is - Pluto is deep, deep out in the black. It will be years before the spacecraft reaches a KBO for a flyby, and then nothing, ever. It redefines lonely and helps you better appreciate your companions. - Curt

I heard that New Horizons arrived at its destination 72 seconds early. How hard was it to get this close to the targeted time after 10 years, and will this change anything?

It was hard. We have a great navigation team who worked tirelessly to make this work. We had a wonderful launch, a recent TCM that got us on track, and we are very happy.

(This response elicited another cheely comment, “I order a pizza and they tell me 45 minutes and show up at 50 minutes. These guys shoot a rocket at Pluto and get there over a minute early. Outrageous.”)

What type of snacks / drinks do you guys keep on hand for long days working on this mission?

I’ll answer the snack portion: I brought a lot of candied pecans, fudge, and cookies to share with the geology team. I also have been going to Costco every few days and supplying us with jelly beans, M&Ms, jerky, Oreos®, apricots, apples, dried fruit, pretzels, bagels, and chocolate-covered almonds. We get stragglers from other groups coming in to steal our food. –SJR

 Read the super cool AMA in full  here