The New Horizons Mission

Joe Kraus

4/24/16

Some basic info

• Launched January 19, 2006 from Cape Canaveral

• On July 14, 2015, at 11:49 UTC, it flew 12,500 km (7,800 mi) above the surface of Pluto

• As of July 2015, the spacecraft was about 4.5 light-hours away from Earth. At that distance, the spacecraft could only transmit data at 1 to 2 kb/s. Thus, the transmission of all data from the Pluto system flyby will require sixteen months.

• We have only received about half of the data gathered so far

• New Horizons has maneuvered for a flyby of Kuiper belt object 2014 MU69, expected to take place on January 1, 2019, when it is 43.4 AU from the Sun.

Some of the instruments

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons#Science_payload

• I like this one. The Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (VBSDC), built by students at the University of Colorado Boulder, is operating continuously to make dust measurements.

It had a Jupiter flyby for a gravity assist

Some news and links

• http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-halo-craters• April 21, 2016. “Exactly why the bright methane ice settles on these crater rims and

walls is a mystery; also puzzling is why this same effect doesn’t occur broadly across Pluto.”

• http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-haze-varies-in-brightness• April 16, 2016 “the layers of haze in Pluto’s nitrogen atmosphere vary in brightness

depending on illumination and viewpoint, yet the haze itself maintains its overall vertical structure. The brightness variations may be due to buoyancy waves.”

• http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/from-mountains-to-moons-multiple-discoveries-from-nasa-s-new-horizons-pluto-mission (July 15, 2015)

• http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-discovers-flowing-ices-on-pluto (July 24, 2015)

Some videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgl9jJUzITg

• https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiuUQ9asub3RUlLBXMFGq8aFEPS5yONT2

Some of the moons

Charon

Charon

Next Object to visit

• On August 28, 2015, 2014 MU69 (PT1) was chosen.

• Encounter with 2014 MU69

• Objectives of this mission include:• Mapping the surface geology to learn how it formed and has evolved• Measuring the surface temperature• Mapping the 3D surface topography and surface composition to learn how it

is similar to and how it is different from comets like 67P and dwarf planets such as Pluto

• Searching for any signs of activity, such as a cloud-like coma• Searching for, and studying, any satellites or rings• Measuring or constraining its mass

Anything else?