How far will NH pass by Pluto?, - and will it be possible to effect a meaningful course change? Options

[Guest_Oersted_*]

So, from what I gather, NH will pass by Pluto at a speed of around 14 km/s. I know it won't be able to slow down in any way, and will continue into deep space afterwards, but is a substantial course change envisaged at Pluto, or will it fly by so far away that the course change will be negligible?

I realise that the instruments must be optimised for a pass at a certain distance, but what distance is that and could it possible by reduced with no ill effects?

It would be mindblowing if a low pass over Pluto could be planned so that NH will fly close by Charon as well, wouldn't it? - Or maybe even - to go really out on a limb - a few high-speed figure 8's around both bodies, before the probe continues on its merry way. Would that even be physically possible?

At least I'm not suggesting aero-braking if Pluto turns out to have a tenuous atmosphere.

[nprev]

Kinda figured as much...it's not very large, and is mostly made of not-so-massive stuff.

One thing I'd like to know is how much maneuvering propellent NH is currently estimated to have post-Pluto for the KBO encounter, and how large a conic section of space she can feasibly reach (by this I mean total potential delta-V vs. power supply endurance, comm range, etc. if there are any other limiting factors). Also, are there any tentative plans to conduct a retargeting maneuver to reach a KBO prior to the Pluto encounter, or will all this take place afterwards? (I'm guessing that the latter is far more likely based on current planning as shown, plus there's no gravitational assist potential at Pluto to speak of).

A Plutino would presumably be the ideal target in terms of feasiblity; IIRC, most of these are approximately coplanar with Pluto's orbit?

[YesRushGen]

One thing I'd like to know is how much maneuvering propellent NH is currently estimated to have post-Pluto for the KBO encounter, and how large a conic section of space she can feasibly reach...

I'm certainly not the expert around here, but I think that Alan said in a past posting that NH would be able to alter it's trajectory by up to 1 degree or so.

edit: ah... here it is! (post #2)

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=2328

[nprev]

I'm certainly not the expert around here, but I think that Alan said in a past posting that NH would be able to alter it's trajectory by up to 1 degree or so.

Thanks, YRG. Well, that ain't much if they're hoping for a target reachable in a decade or less...I'm sure the search will be fast & furious once the target zone clears the galactic center from our viewpoint...

[JRehling]

Well, that ain't much if they're hoping for a target reachable in a decade or less...

Based on some back of the envelope math I did a few years back...

The cone of possible destinations for NH is pretty large. It's skinny, but it's long. I estimated that about 1/2500 KBOs will be in it. Since the number of KBOs is considerably larger than that, the probability that at least one of them can be visited is close to 1.0. And there's a very good probability of being able to visit more than one.