New Horizons: Pre-launch, launch and main cruise, Pluto and the Kuiper belt Options

[cIclops]

Yes it's happening after all these years, the mission to the last planet!

And maybe to celebrate the confirmation of budget, NASA approval preparations and the fueling of the RTG (radioisotope thermoelectric generator), there is an updated web site at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/

Launch will be January 2006 with arrival at the Pluto Charon system July 2015 (mark your calender!) and then on through the Kuiper belt during 2016-2020 and beyond.

20.8-centimeter telescope for 100m resolution at closest approach
IR/UV spectrometers
2 x 8GB data recorders
data rate: 768 bps (sic) to 70m DSN
465kg including fuel
$650m

336 days to launch

[Decepticon]

During the jupiter flyby will we be doing Moon science?

I would love to see any surface changes on Europa since the Galileo Mission.

[john_s]

During the jupiter flyby will we be doing Moon science?

I would love to see any surface changes on Europa since the Galileo Mission.

Yes, we'll be doing plenty of Jupiter moon science, though there are a few constraints that will limit what we can do. Primary constraint at the moment is limited onboard storage capacity, and the fact that we want to keep data management as simple as possible- we won't be able to do multiple write/download/erase/rewrite cycles on our solid-state-recorders, for instance. There's also the unusual problem that when your cameras are optimized to work at 30 AU, everything at 5 AU looks very bright, and we'll be saturating at minimum exposure on many of our targets. Our best views of Io are likely to be taken in Jupiter-shine rather than sunshine, for instance.

Despite these constraints, we'll be taking images and near-infrared spectra of all the satellites. Surface changes on Europa won't be a high priority, because the lack of changes between Voyager and Galileo epochs, in images at much higher resolution than we'll be able to get with New Horizons, make changes between Galileo and New Horizons unlikely. But we'll be cataloging surface changes, plumes, and hotspots on Io, and making near-infrared spectral composition maps of the satellites at higher spectral resolution than Galileo. We'll also be watching Jupiter eclipses of the satellites to study their atmospheres.

We can't make final plans till after launch, when we'll know the precise trajectory, the Jupiter flyby date, and the satellite viewing geometrys. Then we'll have a few months of hard work to come up with a detailed plan that makes the most of this unique opportunity.