PDS_VERSION_ID = PDS3 LABEL_REVISION_NOTE = " 2006-07-08 SWRI:Carcich Initial version; " RECORD_TYPE = STREAM OBJECT = MISSION MISSION_NAME = "NEW HORIZONS" OBJECT = MISSION_INFORMATION MISSION_START_DATE = 2006-01-19 MISSION_STOP_DATE = UNK MISSION_ALIAS_NAME = "NH" MISSION_DESC = " This material has been adapted from the New Horizons web site. Mission Overview ================ The primary science goals of the NEW HORIZONS mission are to characterize the global geology and morphology of Pluto and Charon, to map the surface composition of Pluto and Charon, and to characterize the neutral atmosphere of Pluto and its escape rate (NASA AO, 2001 [NASAAO2001]; Stern & Spencer, 2004 [STERN&SPENCER2004A]). Mission Design ============== The New Horizons spacecraft trajectory was designed to have as early an arrival time at Pluto as practicable. There are two reasons why the New Horizons science team wants to reach Pluto and Charon quickly. The first has to do with the Pluto atmosphere: Since 1989, Pluto has been moving farther from the Sun, getting less heat every year. As Pluto gets colder scientists expect its atmosphere will freeze out, so the team wants to arrive while there is a chance to see a thicker atmosphere. The second reason is to map as much of Pluto and Charon as possible. As New Horizons approaches and flies by the Pluto system, parts of Pluto or Charon will be in constant darkness, and, the later the flyby, the more of Pluto and Charon that will be unlit. Prime Opportunity: Jupiter --------------------------- By launching in January 2006, New Horizons took advantage of a gravity assist from Jupiter. In February 2007, New Horizons passed through the Jupiter system at 50,000 mph, ending up on a path that gets it to Pluto on July 14, 2015. Science Opportunities at Jupiter included meteorology, aurora studies, magnetospheric sampling, and dust sampling and ultraviolet mapping of the torus around Io. Surface mapping, compositional mapping and atmospheric studies of the Jupiters moons are possible, as is a close encounter with a small Jovian satellite. During the cruise from Jupiter to Pluto, the mission team will monitor the health of the spacecraft while planning and practicing for the encounter with Pluto and Charon. At the same time, observers can use telescopes on Earth to search for Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) the spacecraft can fly by after Pluto and Charon (as part of an extended mission). The KBOs are ancient, icy bodies that orbit beyond Neptune. Closing In: Pluto ------------------ The cameras on New Horizons will start taking data on Pluto and Charon months before the spacecraft arrives. Pluto and Charon will first appear as unresolved bright dots, but the planet and its moon appear larger as the encounter date approaches. About three months from the closest approach - when Pluto and Charon are about 105 million kilometers away - the cameras on the spacecraft can make the first maps. For those three months, the mission team will take pictures and spectral measurements. Pluto and Charon each rotate once every 6.4 Earth days. For the last two Pluto days before encounter (11 to 12 Earth days), the team will compile maps and gather spectra measurements of Pluto and Charon every half-day. The team can then compare these maps to check changes over a Pluto day, at a scale of about 48 kilometers, as might be caused by new snows or other weather. The Encounter ------------- The busiest part of the Pluto-Charon flyby will last a full Earth day, from a half-day before closest approach to a half-day after. On the way in, the spacecraft will look for ultraviolet emission from the Pluto atmosphere and make the best global maps of Pluto and Charon in green, blue, red and a special wavelength detector that is sensitive to methane frost on the surface. It will also take spectral maps in the near infrared, telling the science team about the Pluto and Charon surface compositions and locations and temperatures of these materials. In current mission designs, the spacecraft comes as close as about 9,600 kilometers from Pluto and about 27,000 kilometers from Charon. During the half-hour when the spacecraft is closest to Pluto or its largest moon, it will take close-up pictures in both visible and near-infrared wavelengths. The best pictures of Pluto will depict surface features as small as about 60 meters across. Even after the spacecraft passes Pluto and its moons, its work is far from done. Looking back at the mostly dark side of Pluto or Charon is the best way to spot haze in the atmosphere, to look for rings, and to figure out whether their surfaces are smooth or rough. Also, the spacecraft will fly through the shadows cast by Pluto and Charon. It can look back at the Sun and Earth, and watch the light from the Sun or the radio waves from transmitters on Earth. The best time to measure the atmosphere happens as the spacecraft watches the Sun and Earth set behind Pluto and Charon. Launch: January 19, 2006 Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 551 first stage; Centaur second stage; STAR 48B solid rocket third stage Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida Trajectory: To Pluto via Jupiter Gravity Assist Mission Phases ============== Summary of mission phases ------------------------- Name Start(1) Stop(2) Description LAUNCH 2006-01-19 2006-12-31 Post-launch checkout JUPITER 2007-01-01 2007-06-26 Jupiter encounter CRUISE1 2007-06-27 2014-12-31 Jup.-Pluto/Charon interplanetary cruise PLUTO_CHARON 2015-01-01 2016-04-30 Pluto/Charon approach, flyby, post-enc. Notes: 1 Start at 00:00:00 that day 2 End before 00:00:00 next day The Voyage ---------- Early Cruise: Formal data set name: LAUNCH Mission Phase Start Time - 2006-01-19 Mission Phase Stop Time - 2006-12-31 The first 13 months include spacecraft and instrument checkouts, instrument calibrations, trajectory correction maneuvers, and rehearsals for the Jupiter encounter. Jupiter Encounter: Formal data set name: JUPITER Mission Phase Start Time - 2007-01-01 Mission Phase Stop Time - 2007-06-26 Closest approach occurred on Feb. 28, 2007. Moving about 21 kilometers per second, New Horizons flew 3 to 4 times closer to Jupiter than the Cassini spacecraft, coming within 32 Jupiter radii of Jupiter. Interplanetary Cruise: Formal data set name: CRUISE1 Mission Phase Start Time - 2007-06-27 Mission Phase Stop Time - 2014-12-31 Activities during the approximately 8-year cruise to Pluto include annual spacecraft and instrument checkouts, trajectory corrections, instrument calibrations and Pluto encounter rehearsals. Pluto-Charon Encounter ---------------------- Formal data set name: PLUTO_CHARON Mission Phase Start Time - 2015-01-01 Mission Phase Stop Time - 2016-04-30 This phase will be broken down into three sub-phases: Approach: Mission Sub-phase Start Time - 2015-01-01 Mission Sub-phase Stop Time - 2015-07-14 Ten weeks before encounter, image resolution will exceed that of the best Hubble Space Telescope images. Four weeks before encounter, daily studies will begin. New Horizon will acquire maps and spectra throughout this period. Flyby: Mission Sub-phase Start Time - 2015-07-14 Mission Sub-phase Stop Time - 2015-07-14 Activities include taking the highest resolution visible and spectral imaging at closest approach to Pluto and Charon. The time near occultations (Pluto/Sun, Pluto/Earth, Charon/Sun and Charon/Earth) will be used for atmospheric studies. Post-Encounter: Mission Sub-phase Start Time - 2015-07-14 Mission Sub-phase Stop Time - 2016-04-30 Four weeks of post-encounter studies and nine months of downloading data. " MISSION_OBJECTIVES_SUMMARY = " Group 1 Objectives: Mandatory Science Floor Characterize the global geology and morphology of Pluto and Charon Map surface composition of Pluto and Charon Characterize the neutral atmosphere of Pluto and its escape rate Group 2 Objectives: Highly Desired Characterize the time variability of the Pluto surface and atmosphere Image Pluto and Charon in stereo Map the terminators of Pluto and Charon with high resolution Map the surface composition of selected areas of Pluto and Charon at high resolution Characterize the Pluto ionosphere and solar wind interaction Search for neutral species including H, H2, HCN, and CxHy, and other hydrocarbons and nitriles in the Pluto upper atmosphere Search for an atmosphere around Charon Determine bolometric Bond albedos for Pluto and Charon Map the surface temperatures of Pluto and Charon Group 3: Desirable Characterize the energetic particle environment of Pluto and Charon Refine bulk parameters (radii, masses, densities) and orbits of Pluto and Charon Search for additional satellites and rings " END_OBJECT = MISSION_INFORMATION OBJECT = MISSION_HOST INSTRUMENT_HOST_ID = "NH" OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "CALIBRATION" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "CALLISTO" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "DUST" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "EARTH" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "GANYMEDE" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "J RINGS" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "J1 IO" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "J2 EUROPA" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "J6 HIMALIA" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "J7 ELARA" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "JUPITER" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET TARGET_NAME = "SOLAR WIND" END_OBJECT = MISSION_TARGET END_OBJECT = MISSION_HOST OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION REFERENCE_KEY_ID = "STERN&SPENCER2004A" END_OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION REFERENCE_KEY_ID = "NASAAO2001" END_OBJECT = MISSION_REFERENCE_INFORMATION END_OBJECT = MISSION END