After its three billion mile journey New Horizons spacecraft finally makes its approach to Pluto this Tuesday. With over nine years worth of anticipation NASA is pretty stoked about the upcoming flyby. In-fact NASA is hosting a slew of TV Programs on its website to celebrate the momentous occasion! Below is a schedule for all the events but the most important events are when it will finally reach its closest approach July 14th 7:49:57 a.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) and when Earth will receive the signal after its flyby 8:53 p.m. I will list the times with EDT and UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) in parentheses.
July 11-12
11:30 EDT (15:30 UTC) – Final approach to Pluto; live mission updates
July 13
11:00-12:00 EDT (15:00-16:00 UTC) – Media briefing: Mission Status and What to Expect
July 14
7:30-8:00 EDT (11:30-12:00 UTC) – Arrival at Pluto Countdown Program.
8:00-9:00 EDT (12:00-13:00 UTC) – Media briefing, image release.
20:30-21:15 EDT (00:30-01:30 UTC) – NASA TV program, Phone Home, broadcast from APL Mission Control (This is when NASA will finally receive the signal New Horizons will send at its moment of closest approach. Yes, it takes many hours to receive the signal! NASA will also celebrate this occasion as it represents a successful mission.)
21:30-22:00 EDT (01:30-02:00 UTC) Media Briefing: New Horizons Health and Mission Status
July 15
15:00-16:00 EDT (19:00-17:00 UTC) Media Briefing: Seeing Pluto in a New Light (Release of images during closest approach)
Photo by NASA
