If the political climate and government department shut-downs in the United States continue, NASA TV will not be operating on New Years Day.
This is of course the day that New Horizons is shooting past its next target way out in the Kuiper Belt; The Ultima Thule Flyby.
Click HERE or on the image below to download the press kit.
If NASA TV isn’t back up and running by then, live images and data streaming back from the probe on the day will not be broadcast.
Luckily there are other ways of us being able to keep up with this.
Live coverage will be streamed via that Web site.
The schedule of the webcasts is below:
Friday 28th December, 2018
18:00 – 18:30 GMT (1:00-1:30 pm EST)
New Horizons: Beyond Pluto. Preview of the spacecraft and science operations during the Ultima Thule flyby.
Monday 31st December, 2018
19:00 – 20:00 GMT (2:00-3:00 pm EST)
Press briefing: Ultima Thule flyby science and operations preview
20:00 – 21:00 GMT (3:00-4:00 pm EST)
Q&A: Ask the New Horizons Team
01:00 – 04:00 GMT (8:00-11:00 pm EST)
Panel discussion on exploration of small worlds (01:00 – 02:00 8 – 9 pm EST); Ultima Thule flyby countdown events; mission updates
Tuesday 1st January, 2019
05:15 – 05:45 GMT (12:15-12:45 am EST)
Live coverage of countdown to closest approach (12:33 am); real-time flyby simulations
14:45 – 15:15 GMT (9:45 – 10:15 am EST)
Live coverage of New Horizons signal-acquisition from Ultima Thule flyby
16:30 – 17:30 GMT (11:30 am– 12:30 pm EST)
Press briefing: Spacecraft status, latest images and data download schedule
Wednesday 2nd January, 2019
17:00 – 18:00 GMT (2:00-3:00 pm EST)
Press briefing: Science results from Ultima Thule
Thursday 3rd January, 2019
19:00 – 20:00 (2:00-3:00 pm EST)
Press briefing: Science results from Ultima Thule
To make sure everyone can join in the excitement, Alan Stern, Principle Investigator for New Horizons, is determined to keep us all as informed as much as possible so will be streaming and posting as many ways as possible.
John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory will be webcasting live on their Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/jhuapl
Alan will also be posting results on social media, so keep up to date with this exciting encounter by following him here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlanStern
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/s.alan.stern