We are in the race up to New Horizons fly past Pluto and Charon, and things are starting to fly fast and furious.

The biggest thing we’re noticing is the words are changing from, “The best so far, with better to come,” to “The best we’ll get from New Horizons” as parts of Pluto and Charon rotate out of view and beyond New Horizon’s ability to image again.

This blog post is going to try and aggregate some of the best content that is coming out with these images.

Who to Follow (Starter Set)

The next 24 hours are the big ones. As near as I can tell, Twitter is the place to get the most up to the second information. Key people to follow include:

• On the team at APL: @NASANewHorizon, @Alex_Parker (the man behind many of the awesome images), (scientist there) Sarah Horst as @PlanetDr, and Alan Stern’s @NewHorizon2015.
• Media who are at APL: the Planetary Society’s Emily Lakdawalla as @elakdawalla, NBC’s Alan Boyle as @b0yle, and Popular Science’s Amy Shira Teitel as @astVintageSpace (who is also being awesome over on Periscope).
• Other People (not there): Start with @PlutoKiller Dr Mike Brown, and then add Dr Katie Mack (who may be a Cosmologist but has Pluto connect totally) as @AstroKatie, and the media people of win:  Nick Howes as @NickAstronomer, Dr Ian O’Neill as @astroengine, The Bad Astronomer Dr Phil Plait as @BadAstronomer, and, um, me? Dr Pamela Gay as @starstryder and @CosmoQuestX.

This page will be regularly updated throughout the next 48 hours.

NASA TV Schedule

All times are Eastern. Check your local station guide or click to their online site.

• Tuesday, July 14, 2015
  • Morning Event: “Closest Approach”
    • 7:30 – 8 a.m. Program: Live from APL
      Topic: “Arrival at Pluto” (7:49A.M.) Countdown using NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System, and revealing image of Pluto from July 13
    • 8 – 9 a.m. Media Briefing: Live from APL
      Topic: Inside the Pluto System and New Horizons’ Perilous Path
  • Evening Event: “Phone Home”
    • 8 – 9:15 p.m. Program: Live NASA TV Broadcast – Mission Status, Hazard Brief
      Topic: “Phone Home Signal and Broadcast from Mission Operations Center at APL”  Signal received approx. 9:02 p.m., image release
    • 9:15 – 10 p.m. Media Briefing: Live NASA TV Broadcast Topic: “NH Health and Mission Status”
• Wednesday July 15, 2015
  • Times TBD
    • Media Briefing: Live NASA TV Broadcast
      Topic: “Seeing Pluto in a New Light”, multiple image releases from July 14 flyby

NASA Factsheets & Resources

• Just the facts with the NASAfacts flier and online Pluto Toolkit
• Simulation of flyby with NASA Eyes on the Solar System Team
• And don’t forget the NASA and APL Mission Team websites

DIY Souvenirs

Stop biting your nails and keep your hands busy with this “Build your own New Horizons” paper model (and you can get an adorbz Pluto in this Paper Solar System pack).  NEW: Alice’s Astro Info has posted Pluto Paper Globes with latest imagery.

Prefer digital downloads to paper and glue? 3D print your own New Horizons with this .stl file

(We’d love to see your results! Tweet us on @CosmoQuestX)

I came, I saw, I got the shirt

Support CosmoQuest by getting this shirt. (Ok, yes, we admit to trying to make a buck for science off the flyby. We’re not proud. We just want to science. Please buy a shirt? You know you want a shirt, don’t you?)

 

And remember …

… Pluto has heart.