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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
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| New Horizons: Spacecraft survives Pluto encounter | New Horizons: Spacecraft survives Pluto encounter |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A signal received from the New Horizons spacecraft shows that it survived its historic encounter with Pluto. | A signal received from the New Horizons spacecraft shows that it survived its historic encounter with Pluto. |
| Data in its first call home since Tuesday's flyby suggest the spacecraft experienced no upsets as it hurtled past the icy world at 14km/s (31,000mph). | |
| The signal came through a giant dish in Madrid, Spain - part of a Nasa network of communications antennas. | The signal came through a giant dish in Madrid, Spain - part of a Nasa network of communications antennas. |
| The message took four hours 25 minutes to traverse 4.7 billion km of space. | |
| The tension mounted as scientists and engineers at mission headquarters in Laurel, Maryland, waited for telemetry information. So there was joy and relief when the signal was received at 01:52 BST; scientists and engineers cheered, hugged each other and waved American flags. | The tension mounted as scientists and engineers at mission headquarters in Laurel, Maryland, waited for telemetry information. So there was joy and relief when the signal was received at 01:52 BST; scientists and engineers cheered, hugged each other and waved American flags. |
| "We are in lock with telemetry from the spacecraft," said mission operations manager Alice Bowman as confirmation was received. | "We are in lock with telemetry from the spacecraft," said mission operations manager Alice Bowman as confirmation was received. |
| "We have a healthy spacecraft, we have recorded data from the Pluto system, and we are outbound from Pluto." | "We have a healthy spacecraft, we have recorded data from the Pluto system, and we are outbound from Pluto." |
| A few minutes later, she added: "I can't express how I feel. It's just like we planned it!" | A few minutes later, she added: "I can't express how I feel. It's just like we planned it!" |
| Nasa's administrator Charles Bolden said: "With this mission, we have visited every single planet in the Solar System." | Nasa's administrator Charles Bolden said: "With this mission, we have visited every single planet in the Solar System." |
| The agency's science chief John Grunsfeld commented: "This is a tremendous moment in human history," adding: "The spacecraft is full of images and we can't wait." | The agency's science chief John Grunsfeld commented: "This is a tremendous moment in human history," adding: "The spacecraft is full of images and we can't wait." |
| Operations manager Alice Bowman confirmed that New Horizons' solid state recorder should be full of data. | Operations manager Alice Bowman confirmed that New Horizons' solid state recorder should be full of data. |
| "The expected number of segments on that recorder had been used. That tells us that that data has been collected on the spacecraft," she explained. | "The expected number of segments on that recorder had been used. That tells us that that data has been collected on the spacecraft," she explained. |
| The signal received on Wednesday morning contained only engineering data, and was designed to tell controllers whether the flyby sequence had been carried out properly. The first high-resolution pictures from the flyby should be downlinked later on Wednesday. | The signal received on Wednesday morning contained only engineering data, and was designed to tell controllers whether the flyby sequence had been carried out properly. The first high-resolution pictures from the flyby should be downlinked later on Wednesday. |
| Ralph Semmel, director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where mission control is based, congratulated the mission team. | Ralph Semmel, director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where mission control is based, congratulated the mission team. |
| "What has Pluto given us? Whales, doughnuts, and a heart," he said, referring to informal names for surface features in images taken during the spacecraft's approach. | "What has Pluto given us? Whales, doughnuts, and a heart," he said, referring to informal names for surface features in images taken during the spacecraft's approach. |
| Team members had expressed confidence the flyby would go well, but there was a very small possibility that New Horizons could be lost as it sped through the Pluto system. | Team members had expressed confidence the flyby would go well, but there was a very small possibility that New Horizons could be lost as it sped through the Pluto system. |
| Any stray icy debris would have been lethal if it had collided with the spacecraft at its 14km/s velocity . | |
| James Christy, who discovered Pluto's moon Charon, joined relatives of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the dwarf planet itself in 1930, at mission control to witness receipt of the signal. | James Christy, who discovered Pluto's moon Charon, joined relatives of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the dwarf planet itself in 1930, at mission control to witness receipt of the signal. |
| Follow Paul on Twitter. | Follow Paul on Twitter. |