Science Conference

The New Horizons project team held a scientific conference – The Pluto System on the Eve of Exploration by New Horizons: Perspectives and Predictions – at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, from July 22-26, 2013. Set two years before the July 2015 New Horizons flyby of Pluto, the conference allowed the mission science team and interested members of the planetary science community to:

• Bring the diverse range of knowledge and perspectives about the Pluto system to one forum
• Consider ideas for ground-based and satellite observations that could supplement the New Horizons encounter
• Share details of the mission and spacecraft with scientists from the U.S. and other countries interested in analyzing the data returned from New Horizons

Visit the conference website.

Conference Blog

Kimberly Ennico Smith, a research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and the New Horizons deputy project scientist, covered the Pluto Science Conference from start to finish. Her blog entries on the meeting – in chronological order – are below.

Introducing the Pluto Science Conference Jul 22-26, 2013

New Horizons, a Mission for the Patient (and Persistent)

'Initial Reconnaissance of the Solar System's Third Zone'

The Architecture of the Pluto Fly-By Sequence

Introducing the New Horizons Instrument Menagerie

Pluto, King of the Kuiper Belt, Prince of the Plutinos

Finding that Distant KBO Needle in a Deep Space Haystack

Comparative Compositions of Pluto and Friends

'Weather on Pluto. Fair, Haze Patches at First. Moderate Calm with the Occasional Chop'

Pluto's Uppermost Atmosphere. How Big Is It?

More predictions about Pluto's changing atmosphere. And Charon may have a few surprises of her own

How can you form Pluto and Charon? Let me just count the ways

Small Is the New Big

Playing Marbles at Pluto

Pluto, the Orange Frosty, Served with a Dash of Nitrogen, a Pinch of Methane, and Smidgen of Carbon Monoxide

Some insights into Charon and What Roles Laboratory Work Play in New Horizons Science

It's More than Skin Deep: Interiors of Pluto and Charon, a Discussion

Geology of Unmapped Worlds

Did You Know It's Northern Springtime on Pluto Right Now?

Coordinate Systems Do Matter; Brush up on that Right Hand Rule, Y'all.

Winds. Fog. Frost. Global Weather Predictions on Pluto

Pluto Exotica: Atoms, Pick Up Ions, Bow Shocks, Suprathermal Tails, X-Rays, UV airglow

The Pluto Science Community Is Rich and Diverse, Just Like Its Target of Study