Why Is It So Hard To Reach The Dwarf Planets?
0Hello! Get ready to go on an amazing journey to the fascinating world of dwarf planets. Meet Pluto, Eris, Haumea, Makemake, and Ceres, the famous rocks of our Solar System. But be prepared, because reaching these extraordinary wonders is not easy. We will discover the secrets to reaching these incredible gems through challenges and out-of-this-world missions. And guess what? There are even more projects in the future that will allow us to land on these mysterious entities in no time.
And remember, the best missions are the ones that go where nobody has gone before.
Let’s go!
The Most Famous Dwarf Planets
Before discussing the difficulties of reaching the dwarf planets, let's explore them in more detail.
Pluto
Pluto, once considered the ninth planet in the Solar System, was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It has a peculiar orbit, different from the eight major planets, being highly elliptical and inclined.
Eris
Eris is one of the largest known dwarf planets. Initially, it appeared to be larger than Pluto, leading to a scientific debate that resulted in the IAU's decision to redefine the definition of a planet.
Haumea
Haumea, unlike other dwarf planets, has an elongated shape rather than a spherical one, believed to be caused by its fast rotation. It's one of the fastest rotating objects in the solar system, intriguing astronomers for a long time.
Makemake
Makemake is known for its relatively large size and its brightness as a dwarf planet. With a radius of approximately 444 miles, Makemake is about 1/9th the size of Earth.
Ceres
Last but not least, there’s Ceres. In addition to being a dwarf planet, Ceres is also considered a protoplanet because it's large enough to have undergone some differentiation, meaning this celestial body became internally layered with distinct zones or layers of varying composition, density, and physical properties.
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Where Are They Located?
Most dwarf planets and many other minor bodies in our solar system are primarily located in the Kuiper Belt. This concentration includes, among others, Pluto, Makemake, and Haumea. This brings up the question: why are most of them found in this particular region?
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New Horizons Mission to Pluto
In 2006, NASA launched the New Horizons spacecraft on an ambitious mission to explore Pluto. The spacecraft, no bigger than a grand piano, was propelled by a powerful Atlas V rocket.
Landing on a Dwarf Planet
A lot of missions have been sent to the dwarf planets, in order to study their geology and composition, as well as their surface features. This is extremely important in view of future space missions aiming to land on the surface of one of these bodies.
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CALICO Mission to Ceres
Scientists and researchers are actively working on the challenge of landing on a dwarf planet, with one such project being the CALICO mission. CALICO, led by Luleå University of Technology, is a proposal for the European Space
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Credits: Ron Miller, Mark A. Garlick / MarkGarlick.com ,Elon Musk/SpaceX/ Flickr
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00:00 Intro
1:10 Pluto
1:50 Eris
2:30 Haumea
3:02 Makemake
3:38 Ceres
6:30 New Horizons Mission to Pluto
9:27 Landing on a Dwarf Planet
10:40 CALICO Mission to Ceres
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