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PLUTO
Jun 10, 2015 13:31:00 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jun 10, 2015 13:31:00 GMT -6
THE YEAR OF PLUTOPublished on Jun 10, 2015 The New Horizons mission will help us understand worlds at the edge of our solar system by making the first reconnaissance of the dwarf planet Pluto and by venturing deeper into the distant, mysterious Kuiper Belt – a relic of solar system formation. To learn more, visit: pluto.jhuapl.edu/index.php
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PLUTO
Jul 6, 2015 11:00:48 GMT -6
Post by swamprat on Jul 6, 2015 11:00:48 GMT -6
New Horizons Glitch Won't Affect Pluto Flyby, NASA Saysby Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer July 06, 2015
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will be ready for its epic Pluto flyby next week despite a recent glitch, mission team members say.
New Horizons went into a precautionary "safe mode" on Saturday (July 4) after experiencing an anomaly, but the problem did not turn out to be serious. New Horizons' handlers say the probe should be back to normal science operations by Tuesday (July 7), exactly one week before it performs the first-ever flyby of Pluto.
www.space.com/29854-new-horizons-glitch-pluto-flyby.html
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PLUTO
Jul 6, 2015 15:39:12 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2015 15:39:12 GMT -6
I was just going to post this but Swampy beat me to it!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2015 15:40:46 GMT -6
I'll post this one instead: "NASA Announces Television Coverage, Media Activities for Pluto Flyby NASA is inviting media to cover New Horizons’ historic Pluto flyby in mid-July, including the spacecraft’s closest approach to Pluto on July 14, from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, site of the mission operations center. Media who wish to cover the events at APL must receive accreditation from the APL Public Affairs Office by June 30. Earlier registration is strongly encouraged, as space is very limited. To apply, and for more information, visit: pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Media-Registration.php" Source Link: www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-television-coverage-media-activities-for-pluto-flyby/
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PLUTO
Jul 7, 2015 13:00:18 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 7, 2015 13:00:18 GMT -6
www.astronomy.com/news/videos/2015/07/pluto-the-other-red-planet Pluto: The "other" red planet
By NASA, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, Maryland | Published: Monday, July 06, 2015
Pluto’s reddish color has been known for decades, but New Horizons is now allowing scientists to correlate the color of different places on the surface with their geology and soon with their compositions.What color is Pluto? The answer, revealed in the first maps made from New Horizons data, turns out to be shades of reddish brown. Although this is reminiscent of Mars, the cause is almost certainly very different. On Mars, the coloring agent is iron oxide, commonly known as rust. On the dwarf planet Pluto, the reddish color is likely caused by hydrocarbon molecules that are formed when cosmic rays and solar ultraviolet light interact with methane in Pluto’s atmosphere and on its surface. “Pluto’s reddish color has been known for decades, but New Horizons is now allowing us to correlate the color of different places on the surface with their geology and soon with their compositions,” said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “This will make it possible to build sophisticated computer models to understand how Pluto has evolved to its current appearance." Experts have long thought that reddish substances are generated as a particular color of ultraviolet light from the Sun, called Lyman-alpha, strikes molecules of the gas methane in Pluto’s atmosphere, powering chemical reactions that create complex compounds called tholins. The tholins drop to the ground to form a reddish “gunk.” Recent measurements with New Horizons’ Alice instrument reveal that a diffuse Lyman-alpha glow falling on Pluto from all directions in interplanetary space is strong enough to produce almost as much tholin as the direct rays of the Sun. “This means Pluto’s reddening process occurs even on the night side where there’s no sunlight and in the depths of winter when the Sun remains below the horizon for decades at a time,” said New Horizons co-investigator Michael Summers of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Tholins have been found on other bodies in the outer solar system, including Titan and Triton, the largest moons of Saturn and Neptune, respectively, and made in laboratory experiments that simulate the atmospheres of those bodies. CONTINUE READING: www.astronomy.com/news/videos/2015/07/pluto-the-other-red-planet
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PLUTO
Jul 7, 2015 13:15:33 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 7, 2015 13:15:33 GMT -6
astronomynow.com/2015/07/05/how-to-find-pluto-around-the-time-of-newhorizons-historic-encounter/ How to find Pluto around the time of its historic encounter with New HorizonsBy Ade Ashford Posted on 5 July 2015 Dwarf planet Pluto is at opposition on 6 July at 15h UT when it will be at its ‘brightest’ (magnitude +14.1) and best placed for observation. Despite its low altitude in the constellation Sagittarius, the optimal time for viewing Pluto from the British Isles is currently around 1am BST. If you have a ‘scope of 12-inch aperture or larger, celebrate the arrival of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft by attempting to view (or image) this enigmatic world for yourself. AN graphic by Ade Ashford. Launched on 19 January 2006, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has spent the last nine years and five months crossing 3 billion miles of the Solar System at high speed, en route to a close encounter with dwarf planet Pluto and its family of five moons on 14 July 2015. Travelling at 32,500 miles per hour (14.5 kilometres per second), there is no way that the spacecraft can slow down or enter into orbit around Pluto to conduct a long-term study — this is a one-time encounter and all of New Horizons remaining mission objectives must be accomplished in the fleeting precious hours it will lie within the Pluto system. Just 1470 miles (2370 kilometres) in diameter — one fifth of the size of our planet — and currently 2,964 million miles from Earth, perhaps its not surprising that Pluto is a challenge to observe as it looks just like a faint star, but one that moves against the real stellar background from night to night. Around magnitude +14, it requires a telescope of 12-inch aperture or more to see visually, but it can be photographed with instruments of much smaller aperture. Pluto is at opposition, closest and brightest for 2015, on 6 July. If you have a large ‘scope, why not take the Pluto Challenge and attempt to locate this remarkable object over the next two weeks when the Moon is out of the sky? Tip: use our Almanac to obtain lunar rise/set and twilight times wherever you may live in the world. CONTINUE READING: astronomynow.com/2015/07/05/how-to-find-pluto-around-the-time-of-newhorizons-historic-encounter/
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PLUTO
Jul 7, 2015 13:38:57 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2015 13:38:57 GMT -6
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PLUTO
Jul 9, 2015 11:13:40 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 9, 2015 11:13:40 GMT -6
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PLUTO
Jul 10, 2015 14:33:57 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 10, 2015 14:33:57 GMT -6
www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-inside-story-of-new-horizons-apollo-13-moment-on-its-way-to-pluto/2015/07/10/fb361248-25ad-11e5-b72c-2b7d516e1e0e_story.html
The inside story of New Horizons’ ‘Apollo 13’ moment on its way to PlutoBy Joel Achenbach July 10, 2015 Flight Controllers Sarah Bucier, left, Dan Kelly and Chris Regan monitor data being sent back by the New Horizons spacecraft as it nears Pluto, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., on July 8. (J.M. Eddins, Jr./for The Washington Post) The people in the Mission Operations control center — “the MOC” — had been tracking NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft for nine and a half years as it journeyed the breadth of the solar system. It was just 10 days away from the dwarf planet Pluto when, at 1:55 p.m. on July 4, it vanished. Gone. “OUT OF LOCK” a computer screen declared. No more data, no connection at all. As if the spacecraft had plunged into a black hole. Or hit an asteroid and disintegrated. Mission Operations manager Alice Bowman called the project manager, Glen Fountain, who was spending the afternoon of July 4 at home. “We just lost telemetry,” she told him. He raced to the MOC, in the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md. Also arriving within minutes was the mission’s leader, Alan Stern, a planetary scientist. Everyone canceled their July 4 plans. They weren’t going home tonight. This was a sleep-on-the-office-floor crisis. “I stayed on the floor and it was probably one of the best 15- or 20-minute sleeps I’ve ever had,” Bowman says. The official story from NASA and APL officials over the next two days was this was an “anomaly,” and that the team had resolved the issues and gotten the spacecraft back in shape for the Pluto flyby. But this was no mere glitch. This was almost a disaster. This was, as Stern would later admit, “our Apollo 13.” The disappearance of the spacecraft challenged the New Horizons team to perform at its highest level and under the greatest of deadline pressures. The nature of the New Horizons mission did not permit any wiggle room, any delays, any do-overs, because it was a flyby. The spacecraft had one shot at Pluto, tightly scheduled: When it vanished, New Horizons was going about 32,000 miles per hour and on track to make its closest pass to Pluto, about 7,800 miles, at precisely 7:49 a.m. EDT July 14. But as the New Horizons team gathered in the control room on July 4, no one knew if their spacecraft was still alive. CONTINUE READING: www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-inside-story-of-new-horizons-apollo-13-moment-on-its-way-to-pluto/2015/07/10/fb361248-25ad-11e5-b72c-2b7d516e1e0e_story.html
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Post by swamprat on Jul 12, 2015 9:57:36 GMT -6
Sorry. I couldn't resist.....
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PLUTO
Jul 12, 2015 12:14:16 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 12, 2015 12:14:16 GMT -6
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PLUTO
Jul 12, 2015 12:18:16 GMT -6
Post by swamprat on Jul 12, 2015 12:18:16 GMT -6
Fascinating! That's the best size comparison illustration that I've seen!
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Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 12:02:19 GMT -6
WOW ... PLUTO'S HOME PLANET! The best thing about the Pluto image from NASA today is the silhouette of Pluto the dog right on it.
twitter.com/scottjohnsonwww.theverge.com/2015/7/14/8962367/pluto-disney-whoa-dude-what Pluto the dog can, like, totally be seen on Pluto the dwarf planet By Ross Miller on July 14, 2015 Legend has it that on the evening of September 14th, 1928, a 26-year-old Walt Disney looked up in the sky and observed a glow unlike he had ever seen before. It was faint, but Disney was a known visionary — one with superhuman sight. Disney squinted, and through that squint he saw a planet. Squinting further, he saw on the surface of that planet a silhouette of a dog — one with its ears down, probably. A friendly dog. Disney quickly sketched what he saw but kept it secret for several years, until that space rock was observed by the rest of the population. He wouldn't have to wait long; on February 18th, 1930, the planet of Pluto was officially discovered by scientists, and just a few months later in September, a then-nameless cartoon bloodhound would track Mickey Mouse in the The Chain Gang. That dog, of course, was Pluto. Now, some 31,714 days after Walt Disney first laid eyes on the now-dwarf planet (and 31,192 days after the rest of humanity found out), we finally see what he saw. Pluto's origins. Whoa. When NASA released its Instagram-exclusive photo of Pluto, it could've rotated it to any angle it wanted (of approximately 360 to choose from). It chose to honor the real founder of Pluto by presenting it as he clearly saw it. As a dog. MORE: www.theverge.com/2015/7/14/8962367/pluto-disney-whoa-dude-what
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 12:13:07 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 12:13:07 GMT -6
www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2015/07/nasas-final-approach-to-pluto-shows-the-dwarf-planet-and-its-moon-in-vivid-color.htmlJuly 14, 2015
NASA's Final Approach to Pluto --"Shows the Dwarf Planet and Its Moon in Vivid Color"A portrait from the final approach. Pluto and Charon display striking color and brightness contrast in this composite image from July 11, showing high-resolution black-and-white LORRI images colorized with Ralph data collected from the last rotation of Pluto. Color data being returned by the spacecraft now will update these images, bringing color contrast into sharper focus. Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 12:24:23 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 12:24:23 GMT -6
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 12:41:19 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 12:41:19 GMT -6
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 13:13:22 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 13:13:22 GMT -6
www.space.com/29936-pluto-surface-unveiled-new-horizons-video.html?cmpid=514648 This Amazing Photo of Pluto Is Just the Beginning, NASA Says / videoby Calla Cofield, Space.com Staff Writer | July 14, 2015 The veil has been pulled back from the surface of Pluto: a jaw dropping new photo of the dwarf planet taken by NASA's New Horizons probe reveals never-before-seen details, and it's only the beginning of more amazing photos to come. The new image was the last snapshot taken before New Horizons went quiet in anticipation of its close flyby of Pluto, which was scheduled to take place early this morning (July 14). The photo shows two major features on Pluto's surface that have been coming into view over the last few weeks: a large, bright, heart-shaped feature and the head of a darker region that is unofficially being called "the whale" (lower left). The incredibly detailed snapshot also reveals other, previously unseen geologic features on the dwarf planet's surface. The image was taken on Monday (July 13), when NASA's New Horizons spacecraft was only 476,000 miles (766,000 kilometers) from the surface of Pluto. You can see a video of the New Horizons science team discussing their first reactions to the new image here on Space.com. [New Horizons' Epic Pluto Flyby: Complete Coverage] New Horizons' closest approach to Pluto was scheduled to take place at 7:49 a.m. EDT (1149 GMT) today (July 14), but the mission team won't know until this evening whether or not the probe reached its target. Contact with the probe ended, as planned, at 11:17 p.m. EDT Monday night (July 13 —0317 GMT July 14). Mission representatives will hold a press conference tonight at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT July 15) on NASA TV to report on the outcome of the probe's close approach. The spacecraft's "flyby sequence" of Pluto continues through Thursday. The image was taken with the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard New Horizons, and combined with lower-resolution color information from the Ralph instrument. Taken on Monday (July 13), the picture is "the last and most detailed image sent to Earth before the spacecraft's closest approach to Pluto on July 14," according to a statement from NASA. Pluto's "heart" feature measured approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across, and appears "remarkably featureless," the statement said, "possibly a sign of ongoing geologic processes." This morning (July 14) at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland (mission headquarters for New Horizons), mission team members, guests, members of the press and the general public counted down to the exact moment of the probe's closest approach. The crowds of people erupted in cheers and applause, and waved American flags, when the moment finally arrived. "I haven't had very much sleep," said Alice Bowman, New Horizons' mission operations manager, at a press conference following the celebration. "But I have absolute confidence that [New Horizons] is going to turn around and send us that burst of data and tell us that it's OK. So I guess it's a mix of feeling nervous and proud at the same time." WATCH VIDEO: www.space.com/29936-pluto-surface-unveiled-new-horizons-video.html?cmpid=514648
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 13:44:24 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 13:44:24 GMT -6
spacefellowship.com/news/art45192/nasa-s-three-billion-mile-journey-to-pluto-reaches-historic-encounter.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter NASA's Three-Billion-Mile Journey to Pluto Reaches Historic EncounterPublished by Klaus Schmidt on Tue Jul 14, 2015 4:45 pm via: NASA Pluto nearly fills the frame in this image from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, taken on July 13, 2015 when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles (768,000 kilometers) from the surface. This is the last and most detailed image sent to Earth before the spacecraft’s closest approach to Pluto on July 14. The color image has been combined with lower-resolution color information from the Ralph instrument that was acquired earlier on July 13. This view is dominated by the large, bright feature informally named the “heart,” which measures approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across. The heart borders darker equatorial terrains, and the mottled terrain to its east (right) are complex. However, even at this resolution, much of the heart’s interior appears remarkably featureless—possibly a sign of ongoing geologic processes. Credits: NASA/APL/SwRI NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is at Pluto.After a decade-long journey through our solar system, New Horizons made its closest approach to Pluto Tuesday, about 7,750 miles above the surface — roughly the same distance from New York to Mumbai, India – making it the first-ever space mission to explore a world so far from Earth. “I’m delighted at this latest accomplishment by NASA, another first that demonstrates once again how the United States leads the world in space,” said John Holdren, assistant to the President for Science and Technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “New Horizons is the latest in a long line of scientific accomplishments at NASA, including multiple missions orbiting and exploring the surface of Mars in advance of human visits still to come; the remarkable Kepler mission to identify Earth-like planets around stars other than our own; and the DSCOVR satellite that soon will be beaming back images of the whole Earth in near real-time from a vantage point a million miles away. As New Horizons completes its flyby of Pluto and continues deeper into the Kuiper Belt, NASA’s multifaceted journey of discovery continues.” “The exploration of Pluto and its moons by New Horizons represents the capstone event to 50 years of planetary exploration by NASA and the United States,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “Once again we have achieved a historic first. The United States is the first nation to reach Pluto, and with this mission has completed the initial survey of our solar system, a remarkable accomplishment that no other nation can match.” Per the plan, the spacecraft currently is in data-gathering mode and not in contact with flight controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physical Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. Scientists are waiting to find out whether New Horizons “phones home,” transmitting to Earth a series of status updates that indicate the spacecraft survived the flyby and is in good health. The “call” is expected shortly after 9 p.m. tonight. CONTINUE READING: spacefellowship.com/news/art45192/nasa-s-three-billion-mile-journey-to-pluto-reaches-historic-encounter.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 14:06:35 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 14:06:35 GMT -6
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 14:22:49 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 14:22:49 GMT -6
Starry Night EDU @starrynightedu This is what ~8,000 of you said - you can still have your say at: app.plutosafari.com/poll.html #PlutoFlyby #PlutoSafari pic.twitter.com/vwIMnprVDs
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 14:52:14 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 14:52:14 GMT -6
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 15:29:02 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2015 15:29:02 GMT -6
absolutely fascinating... Breakfast At Pluto American Museum of Natural HistoryStreamed live on Jul 14, 2015 As NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft sped towards Pluto, the historic flyby was celebrated at a special event featuring a live viewing of accurate-to-the-second scientific visualizations and running commentary from New Horizons mission control scientists. Hosted in New York at the American Museum of Natural History by Curator Denton Ebel, Astrovisualization Director Carter Emmart, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, this Hangout included participants from New Horizons mission control at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and science museums and planetariums around the world to view and discuss the latest flyby visualizations.
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 20:18:00 GMT -6
Post by swamprat on Jul 14, 2015 20:18:00 GMT -6
Flyby was successful. New Horizons spacecraft is communicating well. Should be more pics tomorrow!
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 20:22:32 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2015 20:22:32 GMT -6
Finally !
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 23:04:36 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2015 23:04:36 GMT -6
YAY!
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PLUTO
Jul 14, 2015 23:23:02 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2015 23:23:02 GMT -6
I can't wait..when I stop to think of the magnitude of it..gee..I'm just overwhelmed
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PLUTO
Jul 15, 2015 9:42:47 GMT -6
Post by swamprat on Jul 15, 2015 9:42:47 GMT -6
WATCH LIVE @ 3 pm ET Wednesday: New Horizons Team Unveils Pluto Flyby Images by SPACE.com Staff
New Horizons team members will unveil and discuss some of the images the spacecraft captured during its historic Pluto flyby at a press conference that starts at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) Wednesday (July 15).
You can watch it live here: www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html
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PLUTO
Jul 15, 2015 11:26:56 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 15, 2015 11:26:56 GMT -6
fun interview with STEPHEN COLBERT interviewing NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON about why he downgraded pluto to a dwarf planet... 9th Rock from the Sun The Late Show with Stephen ColbertPublished on Jul 14, 2015 Stephen discusses the latest news from 4.67 billion miles away.
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PLUTO
Jul 15, 2015 12:31:35 GMT -6
Post by auntym on Jul 15, 2015 12:31:35 GMT -6
Neil deGrasse Tyson ✔ @neiltyson Dear Pluto, Lookin’ good. But you’re still a Dwarf Planet — get over it. Love, Neil deGrasse Tyson
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PLUTO
Jul 15, 2015 13:10:42 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2015 13:10:42 GMT -6
How rude
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