A Valentine from Pluto's Tombaugh Regio

July 26

A Valentine from Pluto's Tombaugh Regio

“There’s a heart on Pluto!”

When I checked in for an online update and live broadcasts about the New Horizons approach to Pluto, the first voice I heard was a familiar one.

It was Annette Tombaugh. She and her brother Alden were there at ground zero in Laurel, Md., at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which designed, built and operates the New Horizons spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

The Las Cruces siblings had also been in Cape Canaveral on Jan. 19, 2006, when the probe was launched with the ashes of their dad, Pluto’s discoverer Clyde Tombaugh, on board. Their mom, Clyde’s wife Patricia Edson Tombaugh, had been there for the Florida launch, too, and told me then, she hoped to be around to see the closest flyby in July 2015.

She almost made it. She died at age 99 in 2012.

But I suspect many of us had the feeling the space pioneer couple were both there, in robust spirit, when the first photos of our favorite planet (dwarf or no) came streaming in.

And the bold heart that showed up, and was soon christened “Tombaugh Regio,” seemed like the kind of cosmic valentine, or high five, the Tombaughs would send us.

Equally heartwarming was to see so many on our home planet get so excited about space exploration again.

There was a lot of cheering — at Super Bowl caliber volume — when the little piano-sized probe navigated some final challenges after a more than 3 billion mile voyage and managed to do just what it was supposed to do: Focus on its closest approach to Pluto and its five moons, and then start reporting back with the first of some amazing discoveries that will be streaming in for many months to come.

A week later, Clyde’s kids and their spouses and some of their kids, grandkids and other family members, were back in Las Cruces.

Alden Tombaugh praised the “level of science and technology” and talked about “the unexpected excitement when they found the heart shape. We were constantly barraged by reporters from all kinds of different media. It was absolutely wonderful to see that excitement about the New Horizons’ adventures. We were there for the launch and it was great to be there for the grand finale.”

His grandkids, he reports, “were amazed by everything going on.”

“Just being there with all the people that are so fantastic in so many fields was thrilling. Every one of the team is very dedicated. And you have to have a good sense of humor to go through what the science team has gone through,” Annette said.

“It was fantastic. It just couldn’t have been better. It was so exciting and so much fun. It’s just so joyous when everything works out so well. The  biggest moment was after the flyby closest approach: the moment when [the probe] called back and made it through the system and started to download. We weren’t sure until it called home that it had made it,” she said.

“Between Tuesday and Thursday (July 14 to 16), I did something like 35 to 40 interviews with people from all over the world. There are a lot of surprises: the high nitrogen atmosphere, the geological activity, Pluto and Charon (Pluto’s biggest moon) acting as a double planet. We’ll be getting so much information about Pluto and the Kuiper Belt Objects. I was astounded at all the people who came long distances, on their own time and paid their own way to be there. And I’ve kept in touch with what we call the Pluto children, who were born the day of the launch. Of course, my heart is with the children,” said Annette, a life-long educator who is carrying on a family tradition. Her parents both lectured until their final years and were particularly touched by how much Pluto is adored by kids.

New Horizons has demonstrated that “Science is not dull. Science is fun,” said Annette.

She’s been cool, calm, objective and keenly interested in the scientific revelations of the mission.

But she’s also inclined to accept and share a valentine message.

“My dad loved astronomy and he put a heart on Pluto. Pluto says, ‘I love you no matter what you call me,’” Annette said.

S. Derrickson Moore may be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com, @derricksonmoore on Twitter and Tout, or call 575-541-5450.