New Horizons Pluto/KBO Mission Hal Weaver The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
New Horizons Pluto/KBO MissionHal Weaver
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
To Pluto and Beyond
Pluto-CharonJuly 2015
KBOs2016-2020
Jupiter SystemFeb-March 2007
The Initial Reconnaissance of The Solar SystemThe Initial Reconnaissance of The Solar System’’s s ““Third ZoneThird Zone””
LaunchJan 2006
PI: Alan Stern
New Horizons: OverviewNew Horizons was one of the consortia proposals submitted for NASA’s January 2001 request for mission proposals to flyby Pluto-Charon and the Kuiper Belt
New Horizons was selected by NASA on 29 Nov 2001
New Horizons was funded and approved to enter into full-scale development in March 2003
New Horizons was later designated New Frontiers 1
Science Team:PI: Alan SternFran BagenalRick BinzelBonnie BurattiAndy ChengDale CruikshankRandy GladstoneWill GrundyDave HinsonMihaly HoranyiDon JenningsIvan LinscottJeff MooreDave McComasBill McKinnonRalph McNuttScott MurchieCathy OlkinCarolyn PorcoHarold ReitsemaDennis ReuterDave SlaterJohn SpencerDarrell StrobelMike SummersLen TylerHal WeaverLeslie Young
New Horizons Project TeamSwRI and APL Teamed to Lead the Project
SwRI leads the science team and payload and is the PI institutionAPL leads mission development & operations
With Major Team Partners:Ball for the Ralph instrumentNASA/GSFC for the LEISA IR focal planeStanford for the REX radio science investigationLockheed-Martin as the Atlas V ELVBoeing as the STAR-48B upper stage supplierDept of Energy for the RTGJPL for DSN, Technical Analyses, & CoI support KinetX for Navigation
And a Pluto-Kuiper Belt Science Team:28 members, various institutions
NH Mission Management
Launch 2006 January 19 14:00 EST
• Launched on Atlas V 551- Nearly perfect trajectory- Fastest Earth departure ever (36,000 mph = 58,000 km/hr)- Passed Moon’s orbit in 9 hours- Pass orbits of:
o Mars on 4/7/2006o Jupiter on 2/28/2007o Saturn on 6/8/2008 o Uranus on 3/18/2011o Neptune on 8/24/2014
• Pluto system encounter on 7/14/2015• Total S/C mass = 478 kg (1054 lb)
- 77 kg (170 lb) of hydrazine- 30 kg (66 lb) of science payload
• 200 W power from RTG at Pluto• Total Cost ~$710M (FY08)
New Horizons Launch Vehicle200 ft
New Horizons Year-by-Year
L. Young
New Horizons Now
New Horizons Science Instruments
NH Spacecraft & Instruments2.1 meters
New Horizons Jupiter EncounterEncounter Closest Approach:2007 Feb 28 05:43:40 UTC
At Distance of 32 RJ2.3 million km1.4 million miles(1 RJ = 71,400 km)
20% Speed Boost
NH Flyby results published in in 2007 October 12 issue of Science
• Nine Paperso Mesoscale Waveso Ammonia Cloudso Polar Lightningo Io Volcanism & Atmosphereo Rings & Thingso Magnetotail
• Perspective• Editor’s Comment• Cover
Little Red Spot paper in Astronomical Journal
NASA Space Science UpdateNASA press conferenceSpecial DPS sessionSpecial Fall AGU session
NASA Jupiter Data Analysis AO released in Feb 2008
The Pluto Quadruple System
Combination of Four Hubble ACS ImagesTaken on 2006 Feb 15.6 UT
12.5
"
Pluto
Charon
Nix Hydra
286,000 km
But Progress Will Be Limited Until We Visit
This is the fundamental historical lesson of planetary exploration
Earth’s Moon at theSame Resolution
Earth’s Moon at5 km per pixel
New Horizons Pluto Encounter
NH Pluto Science Objectives
Mandatory Science Floor
Highly Desirable
Bonus
NH Science Team has added similar Nix and Hydra objectives at one level lower priority (e.g., Nix geology is Group 2)
Encounter HighlightsApproximately 7 months of encounter science at PlutoExceed Hubble resolution for almost 3 monthsMap entire sunlit areas of Pluto and CharonMake global composition maps of Pluto and CharonMap Pluto and Charon surface temperaturesDirectly measure Pluto’s atmosphere: its escape rate, its pressure and temperature, its composition and search for hazesImprove interior structure models and determine if either Pluto or Charon is differentiatedObtain high resolution images of Nix and HydraMake compositional measurements of Nix and HydraLocate additional Pluto-system satellites and search for rings
The most exciting discoverieswill likely be the ones we
never anticipated
New Horizons “Firsts”First mission to PlutoFirst since launch Voyager in 1977 to an unexplored planetFirst mission to explore a double planetFirst mission to explore an ice dwarfFirst mission to study Kuiper Belt ObjectsFastest space mission ever launchedFirst PI-led outer planets missionFirst planetary mission to carry a student built instrumentFirst outer planets mission led by APL and SwRI
NH Space Science Reviews Volume
New Horizons Web Site http://pluto.jhuapl.edu
Backup
Simulated LORRI global maps produced during Pluto approach
Earth’s moon is used tocreate simulated images
Contour map shows predicted resolution
J. Spencer
Pluto Encounter Geometry
To Sun
Pluto Encounter Geometry
To Sun
Sub-solar position(-49.4°, 30.7°)
Equator
Sun terminator
Y
North PoleZ
Sun’s Shadow
Prime Meridian
X
To SpacecraftSub-spacecraft position 10 days before C/A
Pluto at Approach • Sunlit in southern
hemisphere & dark in northern cap
• New Horizons approaches Pluto from southern hemisphere
• Solar phase angle at approach is 15°
• Pluto makes one rotation every 6.4 Earth days
New Horizons Ground Track on Pluto
at Closest Approach
Sub-solar Position at C/A