Mission scientists offer an intimate look at Pluto

Hundreds of students, faculty and community members braved a foggy, rainy night Dec. 2 for a behind-the-scenes look at the New Horizons mission to Pluto, given by mission scientists Cathy Olkin and Ann Harch in the Schwartz Auditorium in Rockefeller Hall. "New Horizons represents a particular milestone because it is the completion of mankind's initial exploration of the solar system," said Phil Nicholson, professor of astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences, in his introduction. "This is the last of the classically considered planets to be visited by spacecraft." It took 50 years for this achievement - and it took New Horizons itself almost 10 years to cover the 4.67 billion miles to Pluto. Jason Hofgartner, Ph.D. '15, who will join the New Horizons mission team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in January as a postdoc, recalled his excitement when he saw the first high-resolution image. Even as it was being processed and beginning to appear at the top of the screen, "we could see significant topography in the image," he said.