New Horizons: a NASA Voyage to Pluto

Category

Description of App

Travel to worlds at the edge of the solar system aboard NASA’s New Horizons, the first mission to Pluto and the distant Kuiper Belt. This app brings you inside this historic voyage, from the New Horizons spacecraft and its science instruments, to the latest news and pictures, to education programs and activities.

Main features include:

News: Get up-to-the-minute reports from the New Horizons news center and Twitter feed.

Media: Browse through stunning images of New Horizons or those taken by the spacecraft’s cameras as they looked in on the Jupiter system and other deep-space targets; watch videos that tell the New Horizons story from the idea stage through its upcoming rendezvous with Pluto.

Info: Take a tour of the New Horizons spacecraft; check out the payload of miniature science instrument and examine the data these tools are already sending back to Earth.

Tools: How – and when – will New Horizons reach the Pluto system? Open the locator to follow New Horizons along its path toward Pluto, and check the countdown clock to see exactly how much time remains – down to the second – before New Horizons sails past the dwarf planet and its four known moons on July 14, 2015. (Wonder how long it would take to fly, drive, bike or walk to Pluto? This section has the answers!)

Education (iPad only): Search for Kuiper Belt objects – including one that New Horizons might actually fly by - with Ice Hunters!

Version

1.0.1

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

Not Known

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

Accessibility Comments

What's nice... is nice! they could fix this up, but the basic info is there and findable.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads all page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

The app is fully accessible with VoiceOver, but the interface could be easier to navigate and use.

Other Comments

the series of unlabeled buttons on the top of the opening screen represent the instruments aboard the space craft... On the 'distance' screen, the years/months/days/hours labels are separated from the changing readings. Not terrific. the pictures, of course, aren't accessible, but the news stories are fine. Some good info... and they have plenty of time to fix it before 2015.

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