Dr. Alan Stern ’75 Discovers New Horizons
NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto is about to show the dwarf planet up close for the first time. Three billion miles away, the New Horizons probe is flying into history as it zooms past Pluto at 30,000 miles per hour. Back on Earth, alumnus Dr. Alan Stern ’75 is leading the monumental New Horizons mission as Principal Investigator. He has overseen the project since 2001.
On January 19, 2006, NASA launched an Atlas V rocket propelling the New Horizons spacecraft into space, making it the fastest spacecraft in history. The data transmitted by New Horizons, and gathered by Stern’s team, will shed light on the Kuiper Belt, a region of planetoids that could tell the history of the early formation of the planets and further our knowledge of the solar system
Stern’s mission is the first since the Voyager mission launched in 1977 to explore the outer solar system and pioneer our understanding of the universe. “Nothing like this is planned to ever happen again, by any space agency on Earth,” Stern told The New York Times earlier this year. “It says something very deep about humans and our society, something very good about us, that we’ve invested our time and treasure in building a machine that can fly across three billion miles of space to explore the Pluto system,” Stern told Smithsonian Magazine. The high-resolution photos that will begin to trickle in on Wednesday, July 15, will give detailed topographical maps, much like those provided by the satellites that orbit Earth.
Although Dr. Stern has soared far beyond 10600 Preston Road, he has always remembered the role St. Mark’s has played in his life. “I really felt like looking back, St. Mark’s was very much about making a man out of a boy, and I felt that even in high school. I could feel I was on an escalator going somewhere,” said Stern, who just returned to campus for his 40th reunion this past April.
Soon after the New Horizons launch in 2006, Stern returned to St. Mark’s as a Robert E. Dennard Visiting Scholar to discuss the mission with the St. Mark’s community. Since then, he has visited campus regularly to inspire our students and share mission updates. Dr. Stern was the Commencement Speaker for the Class of 2008, the Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient in 2009, and a panelist during the inaugural STEM Conference in 2013.
UPDATE
The New Horizons mission continued making history with their Pluto mission. At a press conference, Dr. Stern and his team introduced new data and high-resolution images of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon. Among the new discoveries was a mountain range on Pluto’s surface, shown in breathtaking detail. The mountains were judged to be less than 100 million years ago, surprisingly young for our 4.5 billion year-old solar system. Dr. Stern referred to the youthful mountain range as “a complete surprise.”
The New Horizons mission continued making history with their Pluto mission. At a press conference, Dr. Stern and his team introduced new data and high-resolution images of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon. Among the new discoveries was a mountain range on Pluto’s surface, shown in breathtaking detail. The mountains were judged to be less than 100 million years ago, surprisingly young for our 4.5 billion year-old solar system. Dr. Stern referred to the youthful mountain range as “a complete surprise.”
At its closest, the New Horizons space craft flew just 7,750 miles above Pluto’s surface, less than the diameter of the Earth.
For further information on the New Horizons mission and Dr. Alan Stern ’75 click the links below:
NASA
National Geographic
New York Times Video
Full Interviews
http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/07/11/question-time-with-alan-stern-the-pluto-evangelist/-
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Alan Stern and his team watch data stream in from the New Horizons space craft. Photo Credit: NASA
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Dr. Alan Stern ’75 views the latest Pluto images at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
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Artist's rendering of the New Horizons spacecraft. Photo Credit: NASA
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Stern shares mission updates with St. Mark's students at the STEM Conference in 2013.
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Stern receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2009.
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St. Mark’s School of Texas
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About Us
St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.
St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.
St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.
