New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with a team led by S. Alan Stern, the spacecraft was launched in 2006 with the primary mission to perform a flyby study of the Pluto system in 2015, and a secondary mission to fly by and study one or more other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) in the decade to follow, which became a mission to 486958 Arrokoth. It is the fifth space probe to achieve the escape velocity needed to leave the Solar System.
On January 19, 2006, New Horizons was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station by an Atlas V rocket directly into an Earth-and-solar escape trajectory with a speed of about 16.26 km/s (10.10 mi/s; 58,500 km/h; 36,400 mph). It was the fastest (average speed with respect to Earth) man-made object ever launched from Earth. It is not the fastest speed recorded for a spacecraft, which as of 2021 is that of the Parker Solar Probe. After a brief encounter with asteroid 132524 APL, New Horizons proceeded to Jupiter, making its closest approach on February 28, 2007, at a distance of 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles). The Jupiter flyby provided a gravity assist that increased New Horizons' speed; the flyby also enabled a general test of New Horizons' scientific capabilities, returning data about the planet's atmosphere, moons, and magnetosphere.
Most of the post-Jupiter voyage was spent in hibernation mode to preserve on-board systems, except for brief annual checkouts. On December 6, 2014, New Horizons was brought back online for the Pluto encounter, and instrument check-out began. On January 15, 2015, the spacecraft began its approach phase to Pluto.
On July 14, 2015, at 11:49 UTC, it flew 12,500 km (7,800 mi) above the surface of Pluto, making it the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet. In August 2016, New Horizons was reported to have traveled at speeds of more than 84,000 km/h (52,000 mph). On October 25, 2016, at 21:48 UTC, the last of the recorded data from the Pluto flyby was received from New Horizons. Having completed its flyby of Pluto, New Horizons then maneuvered for a flyby of Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth (then nicknamed Ultima Thule), which occurred on January 1, 2019, when it was 43.4 AU from the Sun. In August 2018, NASA cited results by Alice on New Horizons to confirm the existence of a "hydrogen wall" at the outer edges of the Solar System. This "wall" was first detected in 1992 by the two Voyager spacecraft.
My name is Andrés and I am a Colombian mathematician, I would like to learn a lot in this forum, where can I start asking questions? Thank you very much.
New Pluto images from NASA's New Horizons
New close-up images of Pluto from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft reveal a bewildering variety of surface features that have scientists reeling because of their range and complexity.
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The New Horizons results on Pluto are tantalizing. I was trying to come up with methods to get an orbiter or lander there. The problem is at a 31 AU distance from Earth solar power would only be 1/1000th as strong. However, with parabolic mirrors or Fresnel lenses we could focus a large amount...
Pluto, Charon, Hydra, Nix, Kerberos and Styx rapidly grow larger as New Horizons approaches, and then passes through the system. It then proceeds to pass through the umbra shadows of both Pluto and Charon so scientists can study their atmospheres.
In this simulation, you can control the speed...
From here: http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/04/29/pluto_new_horizons_sees_surface_features_for_the_first_time.html
"At a press conference on Wednesday astronomers working on the New Horizons space probe revealed new images that show surface features on Pluto for the first time!"
There is a public campaign to submit names for the features on Pluto and Charon. This opportunity ends on April 24, 2015. I have already nominated Leonard Nimoy since Pluto is the god of the underworld and Charon carries the souls of the newly deceased across the river Styx to the afterlife I...
The New Horizons space probe is getting close enough to get some interesting pictures of Pluto and Charon, including this little animation that illustrates how Pluto and Charon orbit around their combined center of mass.
I find this amazing.
When I was born, no one had ever launched an...
I know that they planned on going to Pluto then another Kuiper belt object, but have they found another besides Pluto? And what are they going to do after that, are they going to shoot for space like the voyager spacecraft ?
Suggest some good books in QED for a beginner ? I have holidays going on after my exams so thought if i could study something new on my own (i don't know how much will i be able to grasp ) although its not in my course .
Anyone else watching the Launch of the Pluto probe?
www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
They've just filled the Helium and Oxygen tanks to flight levels and are performing tests on them.
About T minus 35-40 minutes.