NASA TV is broadcasting confirmation that a signal has been received from the New Horizons spacecraft, which just flew as close to Pluto as it's going to get on a decades-long trip. This is the first ever flyby of Pluto in human history.
"We have a healthy spacecraft, we recorded data on the Pluto system, and we're outbound from Pluto," Operations Manager Alice Bowman said over the NASA TV feed.
A loud group cheer and jumps and high-fives in the air inside the Mission Operations Center (MOC). A standing ovation from the crowd at the #Plutoflyby event in a nearby auditorium at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. And there was furious banging into Twitter from those of us observing around the world online at NASA TV.
This is a historic space success for America.
Later, at a media briefing, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said, "With this mission, we have visited every single planet in the solar system."
Shortly thereafter, he was greeted by children who were born the day the mission was launched. They are now 9 years old.
"This is not about us, any of us on this control team," added Bolden. "It's about the next generation."
"Let the journey of discovery continue."
A media briefing followed soon after with the New Horizons operations team.
"Our spacecraft did exactly what it was supposed to do," said New Horizons operations manager Alice Bowman, "And we were there to capture it."
Imagery is coming next—- higher-resolution, higher information, like the world has never seen from Pluto. In the media briefing, it was described as a "waterfall of data," with the first transmission expected around 5am Eastern Time tomorrow, Wednesday July 14.
@NASANewHorizons approach to Pluto in colour – June 25th to July 14th. #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/Cib2ilOkR1
— Damian Peach (@peachastro) July 14, 2015
Alice Bowman, APL: team "a mix of nervous and proud" as @NASANewHorizons continues historic journey #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/lOP3ZEm3Ea
— Johns Hopkins APL (@JHUAPL) July 14, 2015
Signal time delays, in descending order:
* New Horizons telemetry
* NASA TV
* Twitter
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) July 15, 2015
LOCKED! We have confirmation of a successful #PlutoFlyby. pic.twitter.com/Krfo9qxxHw
— NASA New Horizons (@NASANewHorizons) July 15, 2015
438,306 miles past Pluto, trying a hard measurement to capture crescent Pluto at 9 miles per pixel res. #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/A9VYuKVvIC
— NASA New Horizons (@NASANewHorizons) July 15, 2015
Waiting for @NASANewHorizons' "phone home" to APL #PlutoFlyby: Watch on NASA TV http://t.co/2ZMl43hGwj pic.twitter.com/eyy4huiO5X
— Johns Hopkins APL (@JHUAPL) July 15, 2015
Waiting for the phone home signal from #NASANewHorizons in the control room at #jhuapl pic.twitter.com/L13hnVWSKv
— John Grunsfeld (@SciAstro) July 15, 2015
A new generation of youngsters now knows the excitement of space exploration and discovery. One more triumph of the nerds..
— Ira Flatow (@iraflatow) July 15, 2015
The @NewHorizons2015 missions ops team enters the building. #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/o0JJiPZCrw
— Dr. Phil Metzger (@DrPhiltill) July 15, 2015
Your New Horizons team. Rock Stars all. pic.twitter.com/a09dpHGJX7
— Doug Ellison (@doug_ellison) July 15, 2015
New Horizons principal investigator @alanstern is all smiles after #PlutoFlyby. http://t.co/CqNUeh2dcU pic.twitter.com/40pmdaapTX
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) July 15, 2015
"It demonstrates what this country can achieve. And it demonstrates what this world can achieve when we work together." -Ralph Semmel
— Rob Gebelhoff (@RobertGebelhoff) July 15, 2015
New Horizons team must be running on pure adrenaline now. Little sleep last night. Long day. But what a rush. Pluto! It worked!
— Joel Achenbach (@JoelAchenbach) July 15, 2015
That downlink will contain 1 image each of Charon, Pluto, and Hydra. Charon will be 2x res of best we have. Pluto will be similar to today's
— Emily Lakdawalla (@elakdawalla) July 15, 2015