NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is at Pluto.
After a decade-long journey through our solar system, New Horizons made its closest approach to Pluto Tuesday, about 7,750 miles above the surface — roughly the same distance from New York to Mumbai, India – making it the first-ever space mission to explore a world so far from Earth.
Now this is “actual science” and really cool. I wonder if they will take any scientific measurements (gravity or temperature). I wonder if NASA will make any predictions based on those measurements.
If NASA is predicting temperature next week based on probe measurements, that is still a guess, not what may actually happen.
Forecasting on any level is still a matter of faith that the input in forecasting model has all the data, including all the possible variables the can affect the forecast.
Since we have sun cycle data that appears incomplete, for all planets:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/11733369/Earth-heading-for-mini-ice-age-within-15-years.html
So I’d treat temperature predictions on Pluto as fortune telling based on past input. Much like the traveling fortune teller in the Wizard of Oz.
The sun cycle variable will probably have much less effect on temperature on Pluto than on earth by comparison because if distance.
More of that “pretend science” I guess. Just think, for the $780,000,000 spent on this fortune telling we could of had a new stadium complex in Milwaukee.