New Horizons

This article is about the space probe. For other uses, see capabilities, returning data about its atmosphere, moons,
New Horizons (disambiguation). and magnetosphere. Most of the post-Jupiter voyage was
spent in hibernation mode to preserve on-board systems,
[5]
New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that was except for brief annual checkouts. On December 6,
2014, New Horizons was brought back on-line for the en-
launched on January 19, 2006, as part of NASA's New [6]
Frontiers program. Built by the Applied Physics Labora- counter, and instrument check-out began. On January
tory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institute, with a 15, 2015, the
New Horizons spacecraft began its approach
team led by S. Alan Stern, the spacecraft was launched to phase to Pluto, which will result in the first ever flyby of
study Pluto, its moons and the Kuiper Belt, performing Pluto on July 14, 2015.[7]
flybys of the Pluto system and one or more Kuiper Belt There are less than 1 hour 30 minutes until the New
Objects (KBOs).[1][2][3][4] Horizons spacecraft flies closest to Pluto on July 14, 2015
New Horizons is the result of many years of work on 11:49:57 UTC (07:49:57 EDT) when it will be 7,800
missions to send a spacecraft to Pluto, starting in 1990 miles (12,500 kilometers, less than 5.3 Pluto diameters)
with Pluto 350, with Alan Stern and Fran Bagenal of the from the surface.
“Pluto Underground”, and in 1992 with the Jet Propul-
sion Laboratory's Pluto Fast Flyby; the latter inspired by
a USPS stamp that branded Pluto as “Not Yet Explored”. 1 History
The ambitious mission aimed to send a lightweight, cost-
effective spacecraft to Pluto, later evolving into a Kuiper
Exploring Pluto was contemplated since its discovery by
Belt Object mission named Pluto Kuiper Express. How-
Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. One of many possibilities for
ever, because of underwhelming support from NASA and
the Voyager 1 spacecraft after its flyby of Saturn in 1980
a growing budget, the project was eventually cancelled al-
was to use Saturn as a slingshot towards Pluto for a flyby
together in 2000.
as early as March 1986.[8] However, scientists on the Voy-
Following backlash from the cancellation, the New Fron- ager program penned a flyby of Titan during the Saturn
tiers program was established for missions that fit in be- encounter to be a more important scientific objective. A
tween the big budgets of the Flagship Program and the flyby of Pluto was impossible, as not only did the space-
low budgets of the Discovery Program. The Applied craft make a close approach of Titan, it was also on a tra-
Physics Laboratory, with a team led by Alan Stern and jectory that slingshot the spacecraft upwards out of the
consisting of former Pluto Kuiper Express team members, ecliptic.[9] Because no mission to Pluto was planned by
won a competition to fund their New Horizons project, any space agency at the time, it would be left unexplored
based on work left off from Pluto Kuiper Express, under by interplanetary spacecraft for years to come. Shortly
the New Frontiers program. However, funding for the after Voyager 2 's flyby of Neptune and its findings at
mission was not secured until after a financial standoff Triton in August 1989, scientists sought interest in a mis-
between the team and then-NASA Administrator Sean sion to Pluto and further studies for the existence of a
O'Keefe. After three years of construction, and several Kuiper Belt and Kuiper Belt Objects, potentially similar
delays at the launch site, New Horizons was launched on to Triton.[10]
January 19, 2006, from Cape Canaveral, directly into an
Earth-and-solar-escape trajectory with an Earth-relative
speed of about 16.26 kilometers per second (58,536 1.1 The Pluto Underground, Pluto 350 and
km/h; 36,373 mph); it set the record for the highest Mariner Mark II
launch speed of a human-made object from Earth.
After a brief encounter with asteroid 132524 APL, New In May 1989, a group of scientists, including Alan Stern
Horizons proceeded to Jupiter, making its closest ap- and Fran Bagenal, formed an alliance called the “Pluto
proach on February 28, 2007 at a distance of 2.3 million Underground”. It was named in homage of the Mars
kilometers (1.4 million miles). The Jupiter flyby provided Underground, another group of scientists that success-
a gravity assist that increased New Horizons ' speed by fully lobbied for the restart of missions to Mars, follow-
4 km/s (14,000 km/h; 9,000 mph). The encounter was ing the lack of such since the Viking program. The group
also used as a general test of New Horizons ' scientific started a letter writing campaign which aimed to bring
to attention Pluto as a viable target for exploration.[11]

1
2 1 HISTORY

One of the many early concepts for a mission to Pluto was to send
a Mariner Mark II spacecraft. The idea would later be ruled out
in favour of a smaller, less expensive spacecraft similar to the
Pluto 350 concept.
The infamous “Not Yet Explored” USPS stamp that inspired sci-
entists to research into and lobby for a mission to Pluto.
1.2 USPS postage stamp and Pluto Fast
Flyby

For many years, people had waved that stamp around as

sort of a call to arms, as a motivating graphic: “Not yet
explored”. That stamp had been in so many presentations
by that point, I knew it would please people to have it go
along.
S. Alan Stern on the USPS stamp[12]
In 1990, because of pressure from the scientific commu- Main article: Pluto Fast Flyby
nity, including those of the Pluto Underground, scientists
at NASA decided to look into concepts for a mission to In October 1991, the United States Postal Service re-
Pluto. At the time, it was thought that the atmosphere of leased a series of stamps commemorating NASA's ex-
Pluto would freeze and fall to the surface during winter, ploration of the solar system. The series featured a stamp
and so a lightweight spacecraft was desirable, as it would for all planets, displaying an image of the planet and high-
be able to reach Pluto before such an event would occur. lighting an associated spacecraft which was sent to it. The
One of the earliest concepts was for a 40-kilogram space- stamp for Pluto, however, depicted a featureless sphere,
craft that would reach Pluto in 5 to 6 years. The idea was presented with the phrase “not yet explored” in place of
shortly scrapped, however, because of the infeasibility of the name of a spacecraft. The stamps were unveiled in
miniaturizing scientific instruments aboard such a space- a ceremony at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Two sci-
craft to that size.[12] entists who attended the event, World Space Foundation
Another mission concept, known as Pluto 350, was de- president Robert Staehle and JPL scientist Stacy Wein-
veloped by Robert Farquhar of the Goddard Space Flight stein, were inspired by Pluto’s status on the stamp; such
Center, with Alan Stern and Fran Bagenal of the Pluto that they started to inquire about the feasibility of sending
[13][14]
Underground, who both served as study scientists for the a spacecraft to Pluto. Engineers at the Jet Propul-
project. Pluto 350 aimed to send a spacecraft, weighing sion Laboratory who were also inspired by the “Not Yet
[10]
350 kilograms, to Pluto. The spacecraft’s minimalistic Explored” status of Pluto started to run ideas about a mis-
[15][16]
design was so to allow it to travel faster and be more cost- sion to Pluto as well.
effective, in-contrast to most other big-budget projects In 1992, Staehle, with the help of JPL engineers and stu-
NASA were developing at the time, such as Galileo and dents from the California Institute of Technology, formed
Cassini. Pluto 350, however, would later become contro- the Pluto Fast Flyby project. The mission heralded the
versial amongst mission planners at NASA, who consid- same ideology as the Pluto 350 concept: small in size
ered the project to be too small and too high-risk. An and cost-effective in scope, so that the spacecraft would
alternate plan which was considered at one point was be able to get to Pluto faster and be affordable to de-
to send to Pluto a configuration of the Mariner Mark II velop and launch. Described as a “radical” mission con-
spacecraft, which would weigh 2,000 kilograms and cost cept, the mission would see two spacecraft being sent to
US$3.2 billion, in sharp contrast to Pluto 350 's $543 mil- Pluto. Both spacecraft were to weigh only around 35-50
lion cost.[12] While both projects competed for approval, kilograms each (including 7 kg worth of scientific instru-
Pluto 350 was more favoured by NASA mission planners, ments), and the project would cost less than $500 mil-
who were starting to adopt smaller missions such as Mars lion to develop, excluding launch costs.[13] Described by
Pathfinder and NEAR Shoemaker.[10] Staehle as a “faster, better, [and] cheaper” approach than
1.4 Alan Stern and New Horizons
the Pluto 350 and Mariner Mark II projects, it caught the
attention of then-NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin,
who ordered all work on both Pluto 350 and Mariner
Mark II to cease and shift all resources to the new Pluto
Fast Flyby project instead.[10]
During the development of Pluto Fast Flyby, however,
there were multiple concerns from both NASA, Admin-
istrator Goldin and the mission’s development team. As
research and development into the mission progressed,
the project’s size and scope expanded; its budget growing
with it also. Additionally, morale amongst the team and
personnel working on interplanetary missions was low
following the loss of the Mars Observer spacecraft dur-
ing its attempted Areocentric orbit insertion in August
1993; an event that Alan Stern would later cite as a sig-
nificant factor towards the low enthusiasm for the Pluto
Fast Flyby project.[12] The launch of the spacecraft were
intended to be performed using Titan IV rockets, which
would've cost $400 million each, thus raising the bud-
get over $1 billion.[10] Because of growing budget con-
straints, the dual-spacecraft concept was scrapped in fa-
vor of sending a singular spacecraft to Pluto. However,
1.4
the project was still too expensive in the eyes of Admin-
istrator Goldin.[12] Alan Stern, as a compromise, reached
an agreement with Russian Space Research Institute sci-
entists in Moscow, in which Pluto Fast Flyby would be
launched atop a Proton rocket, saving NASA over $400
million in launch costs. The proposal was forwarded to
Administrator Goldin; however, he refused the proposal,
recommending instead that the JPL look into the feasi-
bility of Pluto Fast Flyby being launched aboard a smaller
rocket, such as the Delta II.[10]
1.3 Kuiper Belt, Pluto Kuiper Express and
cancellation
Concept art for the Pluto Kuiper Express mission; the last itera-
tion of the original Pluto mission concepts, eventually cancelled
in 2000.
Main article: Pluto Kuiper Express
3
During the course of the late 1990s, a number of Trans-
Neptunian objects were discovered, confirming the exis-
tence of a Kuiper Belt. Interest in a mission to the Kuiper
Belt arose to such that NASA instructed the JPL to re-
purpose the mission as not only a Pluto flyby, but also a
Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) flyby. The mission was thus
re-branded the Pluto Kuiper Express, after briefly being
billed as Pluto Express prior to the revision of the mis-
sion. The weight of the spacecraft was raised again, this
time to 175 kilograms, and NASA allowed further lib-
erty with the project’s budget.[10] However, it was later
decided by Goldin that Pluto Kuiper Express was of low
importance, and thus cut funding to the project drasti-
cally. Eventually, despite official selection of scientific
instruments and the appointment of several investigators,
then-Science Mission Directorate Edward J. Weiler or-
dered the cancellation of the entire Pluto and Kuiper Belt
mission in 2000, citing growing budget constraints, which
had plagued the project since its inception in 1992 and, at
the time of cancellation, had grown to $1.1 billion.[12][17]
Alan Stern and New Horizons
Early concept art of the New Horizons spacecraft. The mis-
sion, led by the Applied Physics Laboratory and S. Alan Stern,
would become the first mission to Pluto successfully funded and
launched, after years of delays and cancellations.
Main article: New Frontiers program
The cancellation of Pluto Kuiper Express angered most of
the scientific community, which led to most groups, such
as The Planetary Society, lobbying NASA for a reboot
of Pluto Kuiper Express or, at the very least, a restart of
a mission to Pluto. Internal divisions within NASA, in-
cluding its Scientific Advisory Council, also voiced sup-
port for a Pluto mission.[12] In response to the backlash
caused by the cancellation of Pluto Kuiper Express, Weiler
decided to inaugurate a new class of missions that would
fit between the big-budget Flagship Program and the low-
budget Discovery Program, creating a compromise for
missions such as the former Pluto Kuiper Express, which
4 2 MISSION PROFILE

proved to be too expensive for the Discovery Program. 2 Mission profile

A competition was held, in which NASA would select a
mission concept to fund as part of the first mission of the
New Frontiers program.[17]
Stamatios “Tom” Krimigis, head of the Applied Physics
Laboratory's space division, one of many entrants in the
New Frontiers Program competition, formed the New
Horizons team with Alan Stern in December 2000. Ap-
pointed as the project’s principal investigator, Stern was
described by Krimigis as “the personification of the Pluto
mission”.[17] New Horizons was based largely on Stern’s
New Horizons ' current position
work since Pluto 350 and involved most of the team from
[10]
Pluto Kuiper Express. The New Horizons proposal was
one of five that were officially submitted to NASA. It was
later selected as one of two finalists to be subject to a
three-month concept study, in June 2001. The other fi-
nalist, POSSE (Pluto and Outer Solar System Explorer),
was a separate, but similar Pluto mission concept by the
University of Colorado Boulder, led by principal inves-
tigator Larry W. Esposito, and supported by the JPL,
Lockheed Martin and the University of California.[18]
However, the APL, in addition to being supported by
Pluto Kuiper Express developers at the Goddard Space Pluto flyby trajectory on July 14, 2015
Flight Center and Stanford University,[18] were at an ad-
vantage; they had recently developed NEAR Shoemaker
for NASA, which had successfully entered orbit around
433 Eros earlier in the year, and would later land on the
asteroid to scientific and engineering fanfare.[19]
In November 2001, New Horizons was officially selected
for funding as part of the New Frontiers program.[20]
However, the new NASA Administrator appointed by the
Bush Administration, Sean O'Keefe, was not supportive
of New Horizons, and effectively cancelled it by not in-
cluding it in NASA’s budget for 2003. Weiler prompted The Pluto–Charon system imaged by New Horizons on
Stern to lobby for the funding of New Horizons in hopes of June 29, 2015
the mission appearing in the Planetary Science Decadal
Survey; a prioritized “wish list”, compiled by the United New Horizons is the first mission in NASA’s New Fron-
States National Research Council, that reflects the opin- tiers mission category, larger and more expensive than
ions of the scientific community. After an intense cam- the Discovery missions but smaller than the Flagship Pro-
paign to gain support for New Horizons, the Planetary gram. The cost of the mission (including spacecraft and
Science Decadal Survey of 2003-2013 was published in instrument development, launch vehicle, mission oper-
the summer of 2002. New Horizons topped the list of ations, data analysis, and education/public outreach) is
projects considered the highest priority amongst the sci- approximately $650 million over 15 years (2001–2016).
entific community in the medium-size category; ahead of The spacecraft was built primarily by Southwest Research
missions to the Moon, and even Jupiter. Weiler stated Institute (SwRI) and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics
that it was a result that "[his] administration was not going Laboratory. The mission’s principal investigator is Alan
to fight”.[17] Funding for the mission was finally secured Stern (formerly NASA Associate Administrator) of the
following the publication of the report, and Stern’s team Southwest Research Institute.
were finally able to start building the spacecraft and its
instruments, with a penned launch in January 2006 and After separation from the launch vehicle, overall con-
arrival at Pluto in 2015.[17] trol was taken by Mission Operations Center (MOC)
at the Applied Physics Laboratory in Howard County,
Maryland. The science instruments are operated at
Clyde Tombaugh Science Operations Center (T-SOC) in
Boulder, Colorado.[21] Navigation is performed at various
contractor facilities, whereas the navigational positional
data and related celestial reference frames are provided
by the Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station through Head-
 5

quarters NASA and JPL; KinetX is the lead on the New
Horizons navigation team and is responsible for planning
trajectory adjustments as the spacecraft speeds toward
the outer Solar System. Coincidentally the Naval Ob-
servatory Flagstaff Station was where the photographic
plates were taken for the discovery of Pluto’s moon
Charon; and the Naval Observatory is itself not far from
the Lowell Observatory where Pluto was discovered.
• characterize the neutral atmosphere of Pluto and its
escape rate
• search for an atmosphere around Charon
• map surface temperatures on Pluto and Charon
• search for rings and additional satellites around
Pluto

New Horizons was originally planned as a voyage to the • conduct similar investigations of one or more Kuiper
only unexplored planet in the Solar System. When the Belt objects
spacecraft was launched, Pluto was still classified as a
planet, later to be reclassified as a dwarf planet by the
International Astronomical Union (IAU). Some members 4 Design and construction
of the New Horizons team, including Alan Stern, dis-
agree with the IAU definition and still describe Pluto as 4.1 Spacecraft subsystems
the ninth planet.[22] Pluto’s satellites Nix and Hydra also
have a connection with the spacecraft: the first letters of The spacecraft is comparable in size and general shape to
their names (N and H) are the initials of New Horizons. a grand piano and has been compared to a piano glued
The moons’ discoverers chose these names for this rea- to a cocktail bar-sized satellite dish.[35] As a point of
son, plus Nix and Hydra’s relationship to the mythologi- departure, the team took inspiration from the Ulysses
cal Pluto.[23] spacecraft,[36] which also carried a radioisotope ther-
In addition to the science equipment, there are several moelectric generator (RTG) and dish on a box-in-box
cultural artifacts traveling with the spacecraft. These in- structure through the outer Solar System. Many sub-
clude a collection of 434,738 names stored on a compact systems and components have flight heritage from APL’s
disc,[24] a piece of Scaled Composites's SpaceShipOne,[25] CONTOUR spacecraft, which in turn had heritage from
and a flag of the USA, along with other mementos.[26] APL’s TIMED spacecraft.
About 1 ounce (30 g) of Clyde Tombaugh's ashes are New Horizons’ body forms a triangle, almost 0.76 m
aboard the spacecraft, to commemorate his discovery of (2.5 ft) thick. (The Pioneers have hexagonal bodies,
Pluto in 1930.[27][28] A Florida-state quarter coin, whose whereas the Voyagers, Galileo, and Cassini–Huygens have
design commemorates human exploration, is included, decagonal, hollow bodies.) A 7075 aluminium alloy tube
officially as a trim weight.[29] One of the science packages forms the main structural column, between the launch ve-
(a dust counter) is named after Venetia Burney, who, as hicle adapter ring at the “rear,” and the 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in)
a child, suggested the name “Pluto” after its discovery. radio dish antenna affixed to the “front” flat side. The
titanium fuel tank is in this tube. The RTG attaches with
a 4-sided titanium mount resembling a gray pyramid or
3 Goal stepstool. Titanium provides strength and thermal isola-
tion. The rest of the triangle is primarily sandwich pan-
els of thin aluminium facesheet (less than 1 ⁄64 in or 0.40
The goal of the mission is to understand the formation of mm) bonded to aluminium honeycomb core. The struc-
the Pluto system, the Kuiper Belt, and the transformation ture is larger than strictly necessary, with empty space in-
of the early Solar System.[30] The spacecraft will study side. The structure is designed to act as shielding, reduc-
the atmospheres, surfaces, interiors and environments of ing electronics errors caused by radiation from the RTG.
Pluto and its moons. It will also study other objects in Also, the mass distribution required for a spinning space-
the Kuiper Belt.[31] By way of comparison, New Hori- craft demands a wider triangle.
zons will gather 5,000 times as much data at Pluto than
Mariner did at Mars.[32] The interior structure is painted black to equalize tem-
perature by radiative heat transfer. Overall, the space-
Some of the questions the mission will attempt to answer craft is thoroughly blanketed to retain heat. Unlike the
are: What is Pluto’s atmosphere made of and how does Pioneers and Voyagers, the radio dish is also enclosed in
it behave? What does its surface look like? Are there blankets that extend to the body. The heat from the RTG
large geological structures? How do solar wind particles adds warmth to the spacecraft while it is in the outer Solar
interact with Pluto’s atmosphere?[33] System. While in the inner Solar System, the spacecraft
Specifically, the mission’s science objectives are to:[34] must prevent overheating, hence electronic activity is lim-
ited, power is diverted to shunts with attached radiators,
• map the surface composition of Pluto and Charon and louvers are opened to radiate excess heat. While the
spacecraft is cruising inactively in the cold outer Solar
• characterize the geology and morphology of Pluto System, the louvers are closed, and the shunt regulator
and Charon reroutes power to electric heaters.
6 4 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

4.1.1 Propulsion and attitude control

New Horizons has both spin-stabilized (cruise) and three-

axis stabilized (science) modes controlled entirely with
hydrazine monopropellant. Additional post launch delta-
v of over 290 m/s (1,000 km/h; 650 mph) is provided
by a 77 kg (170 lb) internal tank. Helium is used as a
pressurant, with an elastomeric diaphragm assisting ex-
pulsion. The spacecraft’s on-orbit mass including fuel is
over 470 kg (1,040 lb) on the Jupiter flyby trajectory, but
would have been only 445 kg (981 lb) for the backup di-
rect flight option to Pluto. Significantly, had the backup
option been taken, this would have meant less fuel for
later Kuiper belt operations.
There are 16 thrusters on New Horizons: four 4.4 N (1.0
lbf) and twelve 0.9 N (0.2 lbf) plumbed into redundant
branches. The larger thrusters are used primarily for tra-
jectory corrections, and the small ones (previously used
on Cassini and the Voyager spacecraft) are used primar-
ily for attitude control and spinup/spindown maneuvers.
Two star cameras are used to measure the spacecraft at-
titude. They are mounted on the face of the spacecraft
and provide attitude information while in spin-stabilized
or 3-axis mode. In between the time of star camera read-
ings, spacecraft orientation is provided by dual redundant
miniature inertial measurement units. Each unit contains
three solid-state gyroscopes and three accelerometers.
Two Adcole Sun sensors provide attitude control. One New Horizons ' RTG
detects the angle to the Sun, whereas the other measures
spin rate and clocking.
kg (24 lb), about one-third the amount on board the
Cassini–Huygens probe when it launched in 1997. That
4.1.2 Power launch was protested by some. The United States Depart-
ment of Energy estimated the chances of a launch acci-
A cylindrical radioisotope thermoelectric generator dent that would release radiation into the atmosphere at
(RTG) protrudes in the plane of the triangle from one 1 in 350, and monitored the launch[38] as it always does
vertex of the triangle. The RTG will provide about 250 when RTGs are involved. It was estimated that a worst-
W, 30 V DC at launch, and is predicted to drop approxi- case scenario of total dispersal of on-board plutonium
mately 5% every 4 years, decaying to 200 W by the time would spread the equivalent radiation of 80% the average
of its encounter with the Plutonian system in 2015. The annual dosage in North America from background radi-
RTG, model "GPHS-RTG,” was originally a spare from ation over an area with a radius of 105 km (65 mi).[39]
the Cassini mission. The RTG contains 10.9 kg (24 lb)
of plutonium-238 oxide pellets. Each pellet is clad in
iridium, then encased in a graphite shell. It was devel- 4.1.3 Flight computer
oped by the U.S. Department of Energy at the Materials
and Fuels Complex, a part of the Idaho National Labo- The spacecraft carries two computer systems: the Com-
ratory.[37] Less power than the original design goal was mand and Data Handling system and the Guidance and
produced because of delays at the United States Depart- Control processor. Each of the two systems is dupli-
ment of Energy, including security activities, that delayed cated for redundancy, for a total of four computers. The
production. The mission parameters and observation se- processor used for its flight computers is the Mongoose-
quence had to be modified for the reduced wattage; still, V, a 12 MHz radiation-hardened version of the MIPS
not all instruments can operate simultaneously. The De- R3000 CPU. Multiple clocks and timing routines are im-
partment of Energy transferred the space battery program plemented in hardware and software to help prevent faults
from Ohio to Argonne in 2002 because of security con- and downtime. To conserve heat and mass, spacecraft
cerns. There are no onboard batteries. RTG output is and instrument electronics are housed together in IEMs
relatively predictable; load transients are handled by a ca- (integrated electronics modules). There are two redun-
pacitor bank and fast circuit breakers. dant IEMs. Including other functions such as instrument
The amount of radioactive plutonium in the RTG is 10.9 and radio electronics, each IEM contains 9 boards.
4.2 Science payload 7

There have been two “safing” events, that sent the space- is mounted to the back of the high-gain antenna’s sec-
craft into safe mode: ondary reflector. The forward low-gain antenna is stacked
atop the feed of the medium-gain antenna. The aft low-
• On March 19, 2007 the Command and Data Han- gain antenna is mounted within the launch adapter at the
dling computer experienced an uncorrectable mem- rear of the spacecraft. This antenna was used only for
ory error and rebooted itself, causing the spacecraft early mission phases near Earth, just after launch and for
to go into safe mode. The craft fully recovered emergencies if the spacecraft had lost attitude control.
within two days, with some data loss on Jupiter’s New Horizons will record scientific instrument data to its
magnetotail. No impact on the subsequent mission solid-state buffer at each encounter, then transmit the data
was expected.[40] to Earth. Data storage is done on two low-power solid-
• On July 4, 2015 there was a CPU safing event state recorders (one primary, one backup) holding up to
caused by overassignment of commanded science 8 gigabytes each. Because of the extreme distance from
operations.[41][42][43] Pluto and the Kuiper belt, only one buffer load at those
encounters can be saved. This is because New Horizons
will require 45 to 90 days after it has left the vicinity of
4.1.4 Telecommunications and data handling Pluto (or future target object) to transmit the buffer load
back to Earth.[44]
Part of the reason for the delay between the gathering of
and transmission of data is because all of the New Hori-
zons instrumentation is body-mounted. In order for the
cameras to record data, the entire probe must turn, and
the one-degree-wide beam of the high-gain antenna will
almost certainly not be pointing toward Earth. Previous
spacecraft, such as the Voyager program probes, had a ro-
tatable instrumentation platform (a “scan platform”) that
could take measurements from virtually any angle with-
out losing radio contact with Earth. New Horizons ' elim-
ination of excess mechanisms was implemented to save
weight, shorten the schedule, and improve reliability dur-
ing its 15-year lifetime.
New Horizons ' antennas
The Voyager 2 spacecraft experienced platform jamming
Communication with the spacecraft is via X band. The at Saturn; the demands of long time exposures at Uranus
craft had a communication rate of 38 kbit/s at Jupiter; at led to modifications of the mission such that the entire
Pluto’s distance, a rate of approximately 1 kbit/s is ex- probe was rotated to make the time exposure photos at
pected. Besides the low bandwidth, Pluto’s distance also Uranus and Neptune, similar to how New Horizons will
causes a latency of about 4.5 hours (one-way). The 70 m rotate.
(230 ft) Deep Space Network (DSN) dishes are used to
relay commands once it is beyond Jupiter. The spacecraft
uses dual redundant transmitters and receivers, and either 4.2 Science payload
right- or left-hand circular polarization. The downlink
signal is amplified by dual redundant 12-watt traveling- New Horizons carries seven instruments: three optical in-
wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) mounted on the body un- struments, two plasma instruments, a dust sensor and a
der the dish. The receivers are new, low-power designs. radio science receiver/radiometer. The instruments are
The system can be controlled to power both TWTAs at to be used to investigate the global geology, surface com-
the same time, and transmit a dual-polarized downlink position and temperature, and the atmospheric pressure,
signal to the DSN that nearly doubles the downlink rate. temperature and escape rate of Pluto and its moons. The
DSN tests early in the mission with this dual polarization rated power is 21 watts, though not all instruments oper-
combining technique were successful, and the capability ate simultaneously.[45] In addition, New Horizons has an
is now considered operational (when the spacecraft power Ultrastable Oscillator subsystem, which may be used to
budget permits both TWTAs to be powered). study and test the Pioneer anomaly towards the end of
the spacecraft’s life.[46]
In addition to the high-gain antenna, there are two low-
gain antennas and a medium-gain dish. The high-gain
dish has a Cassegrain reflector layout, composite con- 4.2.1 Long Range Reconnaissance Imager
struction, and a 2.1-meter (7 ft) diameter providing over (LORRI)
42 dBi of gain, has a half-power beam width of about a
degree. The prime-focus, medium-gain antenna, with a The Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) is a
0.3-meter (1 ft) aperture and 10° half-power beamwidth, long-focal-length imager designed for high resolution and
8 4
LORRI—long range camera
responsivity at visible wavelengths. The instrument is
equipped with a high-resolution 1024×1024 monochro-
matic CCD imager with a 208.3 mm (8.20 in) aperture
giving a resolution of 5 μrad (~1 arcsec). The CCD is
chilled far below freezing by a passive radiator on the an-
tisolar face of the spacecraft. This temperature differen-
tial requires insulation, and isolation from the rest of the
structure. The Ritchey–Chretien mirrors and metering
structure are made of silicon carbide, to boost stiffness,
reduce weight, and prevent warping at low temperatures.
The optical elements sit in a composite light shield, and
mount with titanium and fibreglass for thermal isolation.
Overall mass is 8.6 kg (19 lb), with the optical tube as-
sembly (OTA) weighing about 5.6 kg (12 lb),[47] for one
of the largest silicon-carbide telescopes flown at the time
(now superseded by Herschel).
Principal investigator: Andy Cheng, Applied
Physics Laboratory, Data: LORRI image search at
jhuapl.edu[48]
4.2.2 Solar Wind At Pluto (SWAP)
SWAP—Solar Wind At Pluto
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Solar Wind At Pluto (SWAP) is a toroidal electrostatic
analyzer and retarding potential analyzer (RPA), that
makes up one of the two instruments comprising New
Horizons ' Plasma and high-energy particle spectrome-
ter suite (PAM), the other being PEPSSI. SWAP mea-
sures particles of up to 6.5 keV and, because of the ten-
uous solar wind at Pluto’s distance, the instrument is de-
signed with the largest aperture of any such instrument
ever flown.
Principal investigator: David McComas, Southwest
Research Institute
4.2.3 Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science
Investigation (PEPSSI)
Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investiga-
tion (PEPSSI) is a time of flight ion and electron sensor
that makes up one of the two instruments comprising New
Horizons ' plasma and high-energy particle spectrome-
ter suite (PAM), the other being SWAP. Unlike SWAP,
which measures particles of up to 6.5 keV, PEPSSI goes
up to 1 MeV.
Principal investigator: Ralph McNutt Jr., Applied
Physics Laboratory
4.2.4 Alice
Alice is an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer that is one
(of two) photographic instruments comprising New Hori-
zons ' Pluto Exploration Remote Sensing Investigation
(PERSI); the other being the Ralph telescope. It resolves
1,024 wavelength bands in the far and extreme ultravi-
olet (from 50–180 nm), over 32 view fields. Its goal is
to determine the atmospheric composition of Pluto. This
Alice instrument is derived from another Alice aboard the
ESA's Rosetta spacecraft.
Principal investigator: Alan Stern, Southwest Re-
search Institute
4.2.5 Ralph telescope
The Ralph telescope, 6 cm (2.4 in) in aperture, is one of
two photographic instruments that make up New Hori-
zons ' Pluto Exploration Remote Sensing Investigation
(PERSI), with the other being the Alice instrument.
Ralph has two separate channels: a visible-light CCD
imager (MVIC- Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera)
with broadband and color channels, and a near-infrared
imaging spectrometer, LEISA (Linear Etalon Imaging
Spectral Array). LEISA is derived from a similar instru-
ment on the EO-1 mission. Ralph was named after Al-
ice’s husband on The Honeymooners, and was designed
after Alice.
 9

verse. The dust counter is named for Venetia Burney,

who first suggested the name “Pluto” at the age of 11.
A thirteen-minute short film about VBSDC garnered an
Emmy Award for student achievement in 2006.[49]

Principal investigator: Mihaly Horanyi, University of

Colorado Boulder

Ralph—telescope and color camera

Principal investigator: Alan Stern, Southwest Re-

search Institute 4.2.7 Radio Science Experiment (REX)

4.2.6 Student Dust Counter (SDC) The Radio Science Experiment (REX) will use an ultra-
stable crystal oscillator (essentially a calibrated crystal in
a miniature oven) and some additional electronics to con-
duct radio science investigations using the communica-
tions channels. These are small enough to fit on a single
card. Because there are two redundant communications
subsystems, there are two, identical REX circuit boards.

Principal investigators: Len Tyler and Ivan Linscott,

Stanford University

SDC—Student Dust Counter

• REX information, from a BOINC screensaver
The Student Dust Counter (SDC), built by students at
the University of Colorado Boulder, will operate con-
tinuously to make dust measurements. It consists of a
detector panel, about 460 mm × 300 mm (18 in × 12
in), mounted on the anti-solar face of the spacecraft (the • BOINC screensaver, Charon Radio Science
ram direction), and an electronics box within the space-
craft. The detector contains fourteen polyvinylidene di-
fluoride (PVDF) panels, twelve science and two refer-
ence, which generate voltage when impacted. Effective
collecting area is 0.125 m2 (1.35 sq ft). No dust counter
• REX information, link to PDF of Radio Science
has operated past the orbit of Uranus; models of dust in
Proposal
the outer Solar System, especially the Kuiper belt, are
speculative. VBSDC is always turned on measuring the
masses of the interplanetary and interstellar dust parti-
cles (in the range of nano- and picograms) as they col-
lide with the PVDF panels mounted on the New Horizons
spacecraft. The measured data is expected to greatly con-
tribute to the understanding of the dust spectra of the So-
lar System. The dust spectra can then be compared with 5 Mission progress
those from observations of other stars, giving new clues
as to where Earth-like planets can be found in the uni-
10 5 MISSION PROGRESS

5.1 Launch tle Launch Complex 39, at 14:00 EST on January 19,
2006.[53][54]
The Centaur second stage reignited at 14:30 EST (19:30
UTC), followed by the ATK Star 48B third stage, suc-
cessfully sending the probe on a solar-escape trajectory.
New Horizons took only nine hours to reach the Moon’s
orbit, passing lunar orbit before midnight EST that day.
The probe was launched by a Lockheed Martin Atlas V
551 rocket, with a third stage added to increase the he-
liocentric (escape) speed. This was the first launch of the
Atlas V 551 configuration, which uses five solid rocket
boosters, and the first Atlas V with a third stage. Pre-
vious flights had used zero, two, or three solid boosters,
but never five. The vehicle, AV-010, weighed 570,000 kg
(1.26 million lb) at lift-off, and had earlier been slightly
damaged when Hurricane Wilma swept across Florida
on October 24, 2005. One of the solid rocket boosters
was hit by a door. The booster was replaced with an
identical unit, rather than inspecting and requalifying the
original.[55]
New Horizons is often given the title of Fastest Spacecraft
Ever Launched, and left Earth faster than any other space-
craft to date. It is also the first spacecraft launched di-
rectly into a solar escape trajectory, which requires an
approximate speed of 16.5 km/s (59,000 km/h; 37,000
mph), plus aerodynamic and gravity losses, all to be pro-
vided by the launcher. But it is not the fastest space-
craft to leave the Solar System. This record is held by
Voyager 1, currently travelling at 17.145 km/s (61,720
km/h; 38,350 mph) relative to the Sun. Voyager 1 at-
tained greater hyperbolic excess velocity from Jupiter and
Saturn gravitational slingshots than New Horizons. Other
spacecraft, such as the Helios probes, can also be mea-
sured as the fastest objects, because of their orbital speed
relative to the Sun at perihelion. Because they remain in
Launch of New Horizons. The Atlas V rocket on the solar orbit, their specific orbital energy relative to the Sun
launchpad (left) and lift off from Cape Canaveral. New is lower than New Horizons and other artificial objects es-
Horizons ' launch was the fastest ever to date, at 16.26 caping the Solar System.
km/s.
The Star 48B third-stage is also on a hyperbolic Solar
System escape trajectory, and reached Jupiter before the
On September 24, 2005 the spacecraft arrived at the New Horizons spacecraft. Because it is not in controlled
Kennedy Space Center on board a C-17 Globemaster flight, it did not receive the correct gravity assist, and
III for launch preparations.[50] The launch of New Hori- will only pass within 200 million km (120 million mi)
zons was originally scheduled for January 11, 2006, but of Pluto.[56] The Centaur stage did not achieve solar es-
was initially delayed until January 17, 2006 to allow for cape velocity, and is in heliocentric orbit.[57] The launch
borescope inspections of the Atlas V's kerosene tank. was dedicated to the memory of launch conductor Daniel
Further delays related to low cloud ceiling conditions Sarokon, who was described by space program officials as
downrange, and high winds and technical difficulties— one of the most influential people in the history of space
unrelated to the rocket itself—prevented launch for a fur- travel.[58]
ther two days.[51][52] Although there were backup launch
opportunities in February 2006 and February 2007, only
the first twenty-three days of the 2006 window permitted 5.2 Inner Solar System
the Jupiter flyby. Any launch outside that period would
have forced the spacecraft to fly a slower trajectory di- 5.2.1 Trajectory corrections
rectly to Pluto, delaying its encounter by 2–4 years. The
probe finally lifted off from Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral On January 28 and 30, 2006, mission controllers guided
Air Force Station, Florida, directly south of Space Shut- the probe through its first trajectory-correction maneuver
5.3 Jupiter encounter 11

(TCM), which was divided into two parts (TCM-1A and

TCM-1B). The total velocity change of these two cor-
rections was about 18 meters per second (65 km/h; 40
mph). TCM-1 was accurate enough to permit the can-
cellation of TCM-2, the second of three originally sched-
uled corrections.[59] On March 9, 2006, controllers per-
formed TCM-3, the last of three scheduled course cor-
rections. The engines burned for 76 seconds, adjusting
the spacecraft’s velocity by about 1.16 m/s (4.2 km/h; 2.6
mph).[60] Further trajectory maneuvers were not needed
until seven months after the Jupiter flyby in September
25, 2007, when the engines were fired for 15 minutes and
37 seconds, changing the spacecraft’s velocity by 2.37
m/s (8.5 km/h; 5.3 mph),[61] followed by another TCM,
almost three years later on June 30, 2010, that lasted
35.6 seconds, when New Horizons had already reached
the halfway point (in time traveled) to Pluto.[62]
5.2.2 In-flight tests and Mars orbit
During the week of February 20, 2006, controllers con-
ducted initial in-flight tests of three onboard science in-
struments, the Alice ultraviolet imaging spectrometer,
the PEPSSI plasma-sensor, and the LORRI long-range
visible-spectrum camera. No scientific measurements or
images were taken, but instrument electronics, and in
the case of Alice, some electromechanical systems were
shown to be functioning correctly.[63] On April 7, 2006,
the spacecraft passed the orbit of Mars, moving at roughly
21 km/s (76,000 km/h; 47,000 mph) away from the Sun 5.2.4 First Pluto sighting
at a solar distance of 243 million kilometers.[64][65][66]
5.2.3 Asteroid 132524 APL
First images of Pluto in September 2006
Because of the need to conserve fuel for possible en-
counters with Kuiper belt objects subsequent to the Pluto
flyby, intentional encounters with objects in the asteroid
belt were not planned. After launch, the New Horizons
team scanned the spacecraft’s trajectory to determine if
any asteroids would, by chance, be close enough for ob-
servation. In May 2006 it was discovered that New Hori-
zons would pass close to the tiny asteroid 132524 APL
on June 13, 2006. Closest approach occurred at 4:05
UTC at a distance of 101,867 km (63,297 mi). The as-
teroid was imaged by Ralph (use of LORRI was not pos-
sible because of proximity to Sun), which gave the team
a chance to test Ralph's capabilities, and make observa-
tions of the asteroid’s composition as well as light and
phase curves. The asteroid was estimated to be 2.5 km
(1.6 mi) in diameter.[67][68][69] The spacecraft success-
fully tracked the asteroid over June 10–12, 2006. This
allowed the mission team to test the spacecraft’s ability
to track rapidly moving objects. Images were obtained
through the Ralph telescope.[69]
The first images of Pluto from New Horizons were ac-
quired September 21–24, 2006, during a test of the
LORRI. They were released on November 28, 2006.[70]
The images, taken from a distance of approximately
4,200,000,000 km (2.6×109 mi) or 28.07 AU, confirmed
the spacecraft’s ability to track distant targets, critical for
maneuvering toward Pluto and other Kuiper belt objects.

5.3 Jupiter encounter

See also: Exploration of Jupiter
New Horizons used LORRI to take its first photographs
of Jupiter on September 4, 2006 from a distance of 291
million kilometers (181 million miles).[71] More detailed
exploration of the system began in January 2007 with an
infrared image of the moon Callisto, as well as several
black-and-white images of Jupiter itself.[72] New Hori-
zons received a gravity assist from Jupiter, with its closest
approach at 05:43:40 UTC on February 28, 2007 when
Asteroid 132524 APL viewed by New Horizons in June it was 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from
2006 Jupiter. The flyby increased New Horizons ' speed by 4
12 5 MISSION PROGRESS

The Tvashtar volcano erupting on Io during flyby

The flyby was the center of a 4-month intensive obser-

vation campaign lasting from January to June. Being
an ever-changing scientific target, Jupiter has been ob-
served intermittently since the end of the Galileo mis-
sion in September 2003. Knowledge about Jupiter ben-
efited from the fact that New Horizons ' instruments
were built using the latest technology, especially in the
area of cameras, representing a significant improvement
over Galileo's cameras, which were modified versions of
Voyager cameras, which, in turn, were modified Mariner
cameras. The Jupiter encounter also served as a shake-
down and dress rehearsal for the Pluto encounter. Be-
cause Jupiter is much closer to Earth than Pluto, the com-
munications link can transmit multiple loadings of the
memory buffer; thus the mission actually returned more
data from the Jovian system than it is expected to transmit
from Pluto.[74]
One of the main goals during the Jupiter encounter was
observing its atmospheric conditions and analyzing the
structure and composition of its clouds. Heat-induced
Ralph sees Jupiter in infrared in February 2007. lightning strikes in the polar regions and “waves” that
indicate violent storm activity were observed and mea-
sured. The Little Red Spot, spanning up to 70% of
Earth’s diameter, was imaged from up close for the first
time.[73]
Recording from different angles and illumination con-
ditions, New Horizons took detailed images of Jupiter’s
km/s (14,000 km/h; 9,000 mph), accelerating the probe faint ring system, discovering debris left over from re-
to a velocity of 23 km/s (83,000 km/h; 51,000 mph) rela- cent collisions within the rings or from other unexplained
tive to the Sun and shortening its voyage to Pluto by three phenomena. The search for undiscovered moons within
years.[73] the rings showed no results. Travelling through Jupiter’s
magnetosphere, New Horizons collected valuable particle
readings.[73] “Bubbles” of plasma that are thought to be
formed from material ejected by the moon Io, were no-
ticed in the magnetotail.[75]

5.3.1 Jovian moons

The four largest moons of Jupiter were in poor positions

for observation; the necessary path of the gravity-assist
maneuver meant that New Horizons passed millions of
kilometers from any of the Galilean moons. Still, its in-
Jupiter viewed by LORRI in January 2007 struments were intended for small, dim targets, so they
5.4 Outer Solar System 13

were scientifically useful on large, distant moons. Em-
phasis was put on Jupiter’s innermost Galilean moon, Io,
whose active volcanoes shoot out tons of material into
Jupiter’s magnetosphere, and further. Out of eleven ob-
served eruptions, three were seen for the first time. That
of Tvashtar reached an altitude of up to 330 kilometers.
The event gave scientists an unprecedented look into the
structure and motion of the rising plume and its subse-
quent fall back to the surface. Infrared signatures of a fur-
ther 36 volcanoes were noticed.[73] Callisto’s surface was
analyzed with LEISA, revealing how lighting and viewing
conditions affect infrared spectrum readings of its surface
water ice.[76] Minor moons such as Amalthea had their or-
bit solutions refined. The cameras determined their posi-
tions, acting as “reverse optical navigation”.
SDC. Although it was originally planned to activate just
SDC, other instruments were powered on the initiative of
principal investigator Alan Stern who decided they could
use the opportunity to collect valuable heliospheric data.
Before activating the other two instruments, ground tests
were conducted to make sure that the expanded data gath-
ering in this phase of the mission would not limit avail-
able energy, memory and fuel in the future and that all
systems are functioning during the flyby.[85] The first set
of data was transmitted in January 2013 during a three-
week activation from hibernation. A new command and
data handling software was also uploaded to address the
problem of computer resets.[86]

5.4 Outer Solar System 5.4.1 Possible Neptune trojan targets

After passing Jupiter, New Horizons spent most of its Other possible targets were Neptune trojans. The
journey towards Pluto in hibernation mode: redundant probe’s trajectory to Pluto passed near Neptune’s trailing
components as well as guidance and control systems were Lagrange point ("L5 "), which may host hundreds of bod-
shut down to extend their life cycle, decrease opera- ies in 1:1 resonance. In late 2013, New Horizons passed
tion costs and free the Deep Space Network for other within 1.2 AU (180,000,000 km; 110,000,000 mi) of
missions.[77] During hibernation mode, the onboard com- the high-inclination L5 Neptune trojan 2011 HM102,[87]
puter monitored the probe’s systems and transmitted a which was identified shortly before by the New Horizons
signal back to Earth: a “green” code if everything was KBO Search Survey team while searching for more distant
functioning as expected or a “red” code if mission con- objects for New Horizons to fly by after its 2015 Pluto
trol’s assistance was needed.[77] The probe was activated encounter. At that range, 2011 HM102 would have been
for about two months a year so that the instruments could bright enough to be detectable by New Horizons ' LORRI
be calibrated and the systems checked. The first hiberna- instrument; however, the New Horizons team eventually
tion mode cycle started on June 28, 2007,[77] the second decided that they would not target 2011 HM102 for obser-
cycle began on December 16, 2008,[78] the third cycle on vations because the preparations for the Pluto approach
August 27, 2009,[79] and the fourth cycle on August 29, took precedence.[88]
2014 after a 10-week test.[80]
New Horizons crossed the orbit of Saturn on June 8,
2008,[81] and Uranus on March 18, 2011.[82] After as-
tronomers announced the discovery of two new moons in 5.4.2 Observations of Pluto and Charon 2013–14
the Pluto system, Kerberos and Styx, mission planners
started contemplating the possibility of the probe run-Images from July 1 to 3, 2013 by LORRI were the first
ning into unseen debris and dust left over from earlierby the probe to resolve Pluto and Charon as separate
collisions with the moons. A study based on 18 months objects.[89] On July 14, 2014, mission controllers per-
of computer simulations, Earth-based telescope obser- formed a sixth trajectory-correction maneuver (TCM)
vations and occultations of the Pluto system revealed since its launch to enable the craft to reach Pluto.[90] Be-
that the possibility of a catastrophic collision with de-
tween July 19–24, 2014, New Horizons ' LORRI snapped
bris or dust is less than 0.3% on the probe’s scheduled12 images of Charon revolving around Pluto, covering
course.[83][84] If the hazard increases, New Horizons will
almost one full rotation at distances ranging from about
use one of two possible contingency plans, the so-called
429,000,000 km (267,000,000 mi) to 422,000,000 km
SHBOTs (Safe Haven by Other Trajectories): the probe (262,000,000 mi).[91] In August 2014, astronomers made
could continue on its present trajectory with the antenna
high-precision measurements of Pluto’s location and or-
facing the incoming particles so the more vital systemsbit around the Sun using the Atacama Large Millime-
would be protected, or, it could position its antenna and
ter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to help NASA’s New
make a course correction that would take it just 3000 km
Horizons spacecraft accurately home in on Pluto.[92] On
from the surface of Pluto where it is expected that theDecember 6, 2014, mission controllers sent a signal for
atmospheric drag would clean the surrounding space of the craft to “wake up” from its final Pluto-approach hi-
possible debris.[84] bernation and begin regular operations. The craft’s re-
While in hibernation mode in July 2012, New Horizons sponse that it was “awake” arrived to Earth at 9:30 PM
started gathering scientific data with SWAP, PEPSSI and EST.[93][94][95]
14 5 MISSION PROGRESS

5.5 Pluto approach

April 2015: Possible polar cap on Pluto detected.[98]

On February 12, 2015, NASA released new images of

Pluto (taken from January 25 to 31) from the approaching
probe.[99][100] New Horizons was more than 203,000,000
km (126,000,000 mi) away from Pluto when it began
taking the photos, which showed Pluto and its largest
moon, Charon. The exposure time was too short to see
January 2015: NASA updates New Horizons timeline Pluto’s smaller, much fainter, moons. Investigators com-
piled a series of images of the moons Nix and Hydra
taken from January 27 through February 8, 2015, begin-
ning at a range of 201,000,000 km (125,000,000 mi).[101]
Pluto and Charon appear as a single overexposed object
at the center. The right side image has been processed
to remove the background starfield. The yet smaller two
moons, Kerberos and Styx were seen on photos taken on
[102]
January and February 2015: New Horizons takes images April 25. Starting May 11 a hazard search is per-
of Pluto, Charon, Nix, and Hydra formed, by looking for until then unknown objects that
could be a danger to the spacecraft, such as rings or
more moons, which are possible to avoid by a course
Distant-encounter operations at Pluto began on January change.[103]
4, 2015.[96] At this date images of the targets with the
onboard LORRI imager plus Ralph telescope would only Also in regards to this approach phase during January
be a few pixels in width. Investigators have begun tak- 2015, on August 21, 2012, the team had announced that
ing Pluto and background starfield images to assist mis- they would also spend mission time attempting long-range
sion navigators in the design of course-correcting engine observations of the Kuiper belt object, temporarily desig-
maneuvers that precisely modify the trajectory of New nated VNH0004, when the object was at a distance [104]
from
Horizons to aim the approach. New Horizons of 75 gigameters (0.50 AU). The ob-
ject would be too distant to resolve surface features or
On January 15, 2015, NASA gave a brief update of the take spectroscopy, but it would be able to make observa-
timeline of the approach and departure phases.[97] tions that cannot be made from Earth, namely a phase
curve and a search for small moons. A second object
was planned to be observed in June 2015, and a third in
September, after the flyby; the team hoped to observe a
dozen such objects through 2018.[104] On April 15, 2015,
Pluto was imaged showing a possible polar cap.[98]

5.5.1 Software glitch

On July 4, 2015, New Horizons experienced a software

anomaly and went into safe mode, preventing the space-
craft from performing scientific observations until en-
gineers could resolve the problem.[105][106] On July 5,
January 2015: New Horizons takes images of Pluto and NASA announced that the problem was determined to
Charon be a timing flaw in a command sequence used to prepare
7.1 Objectives 15

the spacecraft for its flyby, and the spacecraft would re-
sume scheduled science operations on July 7. The science
observations lost because of the anomaly were judged to
have no impact on the mission’s main objectives and min-
imal impact on other objectives.[107]

6 Current status
There are less than 1 hour 30 minutes until the New
Horizons spacecraft flies closest to Pluto on July 14, 2015
11:49:57 UTC (07:49:57 EDT).

• The spacecraft currently travels at 14.53 km/s (9.03

mi/s; 3.07 AU/a; 0.00839 AU/d) relative to the Sun
and at 13.78 km/s (8.56 mi/s; 2.91 AU/a; 0.00796
AU/d) relative to Pluto.

• Radio signals take four and a half hours to travel be-

tween the spacecraft and Earth.[108]

• The brightness of the Sun from the spacecraft is

magnitude −19.2.[109] New Horizons approaching Pluto and Charon (artist concept).

• New Horizons is heading in the direction of the con-

stellation Sagittarius.[109]
• The latest news and photos from the probe are
posted on NASA’s mission website.[1]
• Characterize the neutral (non-ionized) atmosphere
of Pluto and its escape rate
Loss of any of these objectives will constitute a partial
failure of the mission.

7 Pluto system encounter 7.1.2 Secondary objectives (expected)

• Characterize the time variability of Pluto’s surface

and atmosphere
• Image select Pluto and Charon areas in stereo
• Map the terminators (day/night border) of Pluto and
Charon with high resolution
• Map the chemical compositions of select Pluto and
Charon areas with high resolution
• Characterize Pluto’s ionosphere (upper layer of the
atmosphere) and its interaction with the solar wind

Eyes on the Solar System simulation of New Horizons’ Pluto en- • Search for neutral species such as H2 , hydrocarbons,
counter. HCN and other nitriles in the atmosphere
• Search for any Charon atmosphere

7.1 Objectives • Determine bolometric Bond albedos for Pluto and

Charon
7.1.1 Primary objectives (required) • Map surface temperatures of Pluto and Charon

• Characterize the global geology and morphology of • Map any additional surfaces of outermost moons:
Pluto and Charon Nix, Hydra, Kerberos & Styx.

• Map chemical compositions of Pluto and Charon It is expected, but not demanded, that most of these ob-
surfaces jectives will be met.
16 8 FUTURE MISSION OBJECTIVES

7.1.3 Tertiary objectives (desired)
• Characterize the energetic particle environment at
Pluto and Charon
• Refine bulk parameters (radii, masses) and orbits of
Pluto and Charon
• Search for additional moons and any rings
These objectives may be attempted, though they may
be skipped in favor of the above objectives. An ob-
jective to measure any magnetic field of Pluto was
dropped. A magnetometer instrument could not be im-
plemented within a reasonable mass budget and schedule,
and SWAP and PEPSSI could do an indirect job detect-
ing some magnetic field around Pluto.
ening pattern). (Alice can perform similar occultations,
using sunlight instead of radio beacons.) Previous mis-
sions had the spacecraft transmit through the atmosphere,
to Earth (“downlink”). Low power and extreme distance
means New Horizons will be the first such “uplink” mis-
sion. Pluto’s mass and mass distribution will be evalu-
ated by their tug on the spacecraft. As the spacecraft
speeds up and slows down, the radio signal will experi-
ence a Doppler shift. The Doppler shift will be measured
by comparison with the ultrastable oscillator in the com-
munications electronics.
Reflected sunlight from Charon will allow some imaging
observations of the nightside. Backlighting by the Sun
will highlight any rings or atmospheric hazes. REX will
perform radiometry of the nightside.

7.2 The close encounter

New Horizons is intended to pass within 12,500 km 7.2.1 Lesser satellite observations
(7,800 mi) of Pluto, with this closest approach date esti-
mated to occur on July 14, 2015 at 11:50 UTC. New Hori-
zons will have a relative velocity of 13.78 km/s (49,600 New Horizons ' best spatial resolution of the small satel-
km/h; 30,800 mph) at its closest approach, and will come lites is 460m/pixel at Nix, 1.1 km/pixel at Hydra, 3.2
as close as 28,800 km (17,900 mi) to Charon, although km/pixel at Kerberos, and 3.2 km/pixel at Styx. Esti-
these parameters may be changed during flight. Starting mates for the diameters of these bodies are: Nix, 56 ×
3.2 days before the closest approach, long-range imag- 26 km; Hydra, 58 × 34 km; Kerberos, 31 km; and Styx,
ing will include the mapping of Pluto and Charon to 40 8 to 28 km. This translates to a resolution of 120, 50, 10,
km (25 mi) resolution. This is half the rotation period and 2 to 10 pixels in width for Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and
of the Pluto–Charon system and will allow imaging of Styx, respectively.
all sides of both bodies. Coverage will repeat twice per
day, to search for changes due to snows or cryovolcanism.
Because of Pluto’s tilt, a portion of the northern hemi-
sphere will be in shadow at all times. During the flyby,
LORRI should be able to obtain select images with res-
olution as high as 50 m/px (if closest distance is around
12,500 km), and MVIC should obtain four-color global
8 Future mission objectives
dayside maps at 1.6 km resolution. LORRI and MVIC
will attempt to overlap their respective coverage areas to
form stereo pairs. LEISA will obtain hyperspectral near- 8.1 Kuiper belt object (KBO) mission
infrared maps at 7 km/px globally and 0.6 km/pixel for
selected areas.
Meanwhile, Alice will characterize the atmosphere, both Jupiter Kuiper Belt
Sedna

by emissions of atmospheric molecules (airglow), and Mars

Earth
Venus
Neptune

Uranus

by dimming of background stars as they pass behind

Mercury
Saturn
Jupiter

Pluto (occultation). During and after closest approach,

SWAP and PEPSSI will sample the high atmosphere and Asteroids
Inner
Pluto
Outer

its effects on the solar wind. VBSDC will search for Solar System Solar System

dust, inferring meteoroid collision rates and any invisi-

ble rings. REX will perform active and passive radio sci-
ence. Ground stations on Earth will transmit a powerful
radio signal as New Horizons passes behind Pluto’s disk,
then emerges on the other side. The communications
dish will measure the disappearance and reappearance Inner extent Orbit of
of Oort Cloud Sedna
of the radio occultation signal. The results will resolve
Pluto’s diameter (by their timing) and atmospheric den- Big picture: from the inner Solar System to the Oort
sity and composition (by their weakening and strength- cloud with the Kuiper belt in between.
8.1 Kuiper belt object (KBO) mission 17

8.1.2 Search

In 2011 a dedicated search for suitable KBOs using

ground telescopes was started. Large ground telescopes
with wide-field cameras, notably the twin 6.5-meter
Magellan Telescopes in Chile, the 8.2-meter Subaru
Observatory in Hawaii, and the Canada–France–Hawaii
Telescope[87][112] were used to search for potential tar-
gets. Through the citizen science project, the public
helped to scan telescopic images for possible suitable
mission candidates by participating in the Ice Hunters
Artist’s concept of a Kuiper belt object (KBO), targeted
project.[113][114][115][116][117] The ground-based search re-
by New Horizons[110]
sulted in the discovery of about 143 KBOs of poten-
tial interest,[118] but none of these were close enough to
the flight path of New Horizons.[112] Only the Hubble
Space Telescope was deemed likely to find a suitable tar-
get in time for a successful KBO mission.[119] On June
16, 2014, time on Hubble was granted.[120] Hubble has
a much greater ability to find suitable KBOs than ground
telescopes. The probability that a target for New Hori-
zons would be found was estimated beforehand at about
95%.[121]

8.1.3 Suitable KBOs

On October 15, 2014, it was revealed that

The KBO 2014 MU69, a potential target for the Kuiper
Hubble’s search had uncovered three potential
belt object mission
targets,[110][122][123][124][125] provisionally designated
PT1 (“potential target 1”), PT2 and PT3 by the New
Horizons team. All are objects with estimated diameters
8.1.1 Target background in the 30–55 km range, too small to be seen by ground
telescopes, at distances from the Sun of 43–44 AU, which
would put the encounters in the 2018–2019 period.[122]
After passing Pluto, New Horizons will continue on to the
Kuiper belt. The goal is to study one or two other Kuiper The initial estimated probabilities that these objects are
reachable within New Horizons ' fuel budget are 100%,
belt objects (KBOs). Because maneuvering capability is [122]
limited, this phase of the mission is contingent on the 7%, and 97%, respectively. All are members of
presence of suitable KBOs close to New Horizons ' flight the “cold” (low-inclination, low-eccentricity) classical
path. This ruled out any possibility for a flyby of Eris, a Kuiper belt, and thus very different from Pluto. PT1
[126]
trans-Neptunian object comparable in size to Pluto. [111] (designated 1110113Y on the HST web site ), the
Because the flight path is determined by the Pluto flyby, most favorably situated object, is magnitude 26.8, 30–45
with only minimal hydrazine remaining, objects need to km in diameter, [127]
and would be encountered around Jan-
be found within a cone, extending from Pluto, of less than uary 2019. A course to reach it would require about
a degree’s width, and within 55 AU. Beyond 55 AU, the 35% of New Horizons ' available trajectory-adjustment
communications link will become too weak, and the RTG fuel supply. A mission to PT3 may be preferable,
wattage will have decayed significantly enough to hinder because it is brighter and therefore probably larger than
[122]
observations. Desirable KBOs should be well over 50 km PT1.
(31 mi) in diameter, neutral in color (to compare with The potential target KBOs were initially given the labels
the reddish Pluto), and, if possible, have a moon that im- PT1 , PT2, and PT3. Once sufficient orbital information
parts a wobble. Because the population of KBOs appears was provided, the Minor Planet Center gave them their
quite large, multiple objects may qualify. Mission plan- official designations: 2014 MU69 (PT1), 2014 OS393
ners searched for one or more additional Kuiper belt ob- (PT2), and 2014 PN70 (PT3). (By the fall of 2014, a
jects (KBOs) of the order of 50–100 km (31–62 mi) in possible fourth target, 2014 MT69 had been eliminated
diameter as targets for flybys similar to the spacecraft’s by follow-up observations.) The preferred flyby target
Plutonian encounter. The available region, being fairly is PT1, a 40–70 km object, but PT3, a slightly bigger
close to the plane of the Milky Way and hence difficult object, could also be targeted for a flyby, with the de-
to survey for dim objects, is one that was not well-covered cision to be made in August. PT2 is no longer under
by previous KBO search efforts. consideration.[128]
18 12 REFERENCES

8.2 Post-KBO mission 12 References

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object from Earth. Close fly-bys of Saturn and Titan gave
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New Horizons reaches the distance of 100 AU, it will be
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(8,900 mph) slower than Voyager 1 at that distance.[130]
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• The New Horizons spacecraft – Spaceflight Now,
January 8, 2006 (from the NASA mission press kit)
• The New Horizons Spacecraft, Glen H. Fountain et
al.
• How the mission got its name
• Johns Hopkins Magazine – Mission: Pluto
• New Horizons Set To Launch With Minimum
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• NASA’s New Horizons mission also a new horizon
for INL

[170] Lakdawalla, Emily (October 15, 2014). “Finally! New
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13 Further reading
Guo, Y.; Farquhar, R. W. (2005). “New Horizons
Pluto–Kuiper Belt mission: design and simulation of the
Pluto–Charon encounter” (PDF). Acta Astronautica 56
(3): 421–429. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2004.05.076.
• NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in the clean room,
November 4, 2005
Other
• Unofficial “Where is New Horizons Now?"
• CollectSpace article on the trinkets placed aboard
New Horizons
• Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons
spacecraft on its way to Pluto... “Ask Me Anything”
session on Reddit with New Horizons project leader
Alan Stern and five others, October 6, 2014.

14 External links
Official websites

• Official New Horizons mission website

• Where is New Horizons now?

• New Horizons (PKB) Profile at NASA’s Solar Sys-

tem Exploration web site

• NSSDC page

Citizen Science

• Deep Space Network @ Home a proposal that could

increase the data return beyond Pluto–Charon.

• New Horizons animation of visit through Jupiter’s

magnetic field

• New Horizons launch APOD

• Student-Built Dust Detector Renamed Venetia,

Honoring Girl Who Named Ninth Planet
24 15 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

15 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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est, MissionControl, JefeMixtli, JoergenB, JaGa, Nodekeeper, Markco1, Kiminatheguardian, Ebellii, Keith D, TechnoFaye, Zouavman
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bloch, Alfa989~enwiki, Sdsds, Philip Trueman, TXiKiBoT, XavierGreen, Sroc, Muro de Aguas, Lucamauri, Xenan, Hernando1234, Fbs.
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Ibukanov, Hunnjazal, Citation bot, OllieFury, Martinw89, Lord Aro, Nonpawit, ArthurBot, Quebec99, Capricorn42, DataWraith, Scebert,
VanishedUser sdu9aya9fs783, J04n, Sarahmn, Zefr, RibotBOT, Trafford09, A Quest For Knowledge, Haploidavey, Fotaun, Spazturtle,
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sharp, TobeBot, Trappist the monk, AHeneen, Antonsusi, Lotje, Ivanvector, Subscriber0100, Jynto, Dvdurst, Obankston, RjwilmsiBot,
TheArguer, P Aculeius, S-1-5-7, Steve03Mills, Mr. Anon515, EmausBot, John of Reading, Orphan Wiki, WikitanvirBot, JCRules, Tinss,
RA0808, Ğaaw, 2012rc, Dem1995, NerdPirate, Unklscrufy, Jmencisom, Mmeijeri, Solomonfromfinland, Evanh2008, Grondilu, Josve05a,
A2soup, Wieralee, 0sudoman, Green Lane, SporkBot, Wayne Slam, Δ, Inimbrium, Toshio Yamaguchi, Fanyavizuri, DinoSlider, Anon-
imski, EvenGreenerFish, Jmostly, StephenKingFan100, ChiZeroOne, Whoop whoop pull up, Xyzdebris, ClueBot NG, TSBonnie2010,
Joefromrandb, Sleddog116, Xession, Junu944, Pedro345, Pinoyaussie, Lanthanum-138, Frietjes, Delusion23, Haveblue07, Parcly Taxel,
Tr00rle, Voyager1Interstellar, Mega Sazabi 144, Admock, Marksurge, Junu9999, Aesir.le, Bibcode Bot, Dalit Llama, BG19bot, Ro-
drigolopes, Badon, Luizpuodzius, Ninney, Akihironihongo, Trevayne08, Vesna Wylde, Zomgiusehax, 23haveblue, Zedshort, Grant.buffett,
15.2 Images 25

AntanO, Epinedo, Nffc700, BattyBot, Th4n3r, ChrisGualtieri, Khazar2, Dexbot, Mogism, Stas1995, Jcardazzi, Lilrickyrick, JavautilRan-
dom, BeaumontTaz, Tony Mach, Ulfrik Stormcloak, NealCruco, 134340Goat, Dave Bowman - Discovery Won, Plant’s Strider, 3142, Corn
cheese, Artyfinkle, 069952497a, Reatlas, Rfassbind, Renerpho, Faizan, Epicgenius, Timmypeko, Shogiru, Kap 7, Bg501004, NHCLS,
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40BOG40, 1990’sguy, Mr. Online Wiki, Concord hioz, Monkbot, LeoLi1234, Filedelinkerbot, Jonnyc429, Yomibaks, Gronk Oz, Bib-
lioworm, Susith Chandira Gts, Lordpeyre, NeoGeneric, Mndata, Satanic CCCP, CMDShepardSR2, The Average Wikipedian, Spiderjerky,
Lightspeed2012, TethysIapetus, Tim Starling (WMF), Tetra quark, Isambard Kingdom, Grangergirl68, LL221W, TheWhistleGag, Drakeg-
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Buckbill10, Smartguy0365 and Anonymous: 629

15.2 Images
• File:071215-Charon-NewHorizons-20150711.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/
071215-Charon-NewHorizons-20150711.png License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/
image/071215_charon_alone.png Original artist: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
• File:071215-Pluto-NewHorizons-20150711.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/
071215-Pluto-NewHorizons-20150711.png License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/
image/071215_pluto_alone_0.png Original artist: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
• File:14-281-KuiperBeltObject-ArtistsConcept-20141015.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/
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14-281_0.jpg Original artist: ASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)
• File:15-011a-NewHorizons-PlutoFlyby-ArtistConcept-14July2015-20150115.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/3/32/15-011a-NewHorizons-PlutoFlyby-ArtistConcept-14July2015-20150115.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http:
//www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/15-011a.jpg Original artist: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI/Steve Gribben
• File:15-078-Pluto-DwarfPlanet-NewHorizons-20150415.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/
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thumbnails/image/15-078.jpg Original artist: NASA/JHU-APL/SwRI
• File:15-143-PlutoSystem-NewHorizons-20150626.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/
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thumbnails/image/15-143.jpg Original artist: NASA/JHU-APL/SwRI
• File:A_Moon_over_Pluto_(Close_up).3.gif Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/A_Moon_over_Pluto_
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tors: Own work Original artist: MG (talk · contribs)
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lic domain Contributors: http://www.nasa.gov/ Original artist: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest
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prepared_for_launch.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=27639 Original
artist: NASA
• File:Atlas_V_551_at_Launch_Pad_41.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Atlas_V_551_at_Launch_
Pad_41.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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blue_sky.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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thumbnails/image/charon_annotated.jpg Original artist: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
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sa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
26 15 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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15.2 Images 27

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28 15 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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