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

[djellison]

768 bps isnt too bad actually

given say an 8 hr DSN pass - that's 21.6 Mbits

One a day, for a week = 151 Mbits

Heck - 8 Gigabits.





Doug

[gpurcell]

Yeah, but in 2015 we'll be posting on a BBS where some 20-year old cracker will wonder why the thing wasn't launched with a 30 MB camera and 1GB/sec data transfer capabilities...after all, you can get it at any Best Buy!

[remcook]

...but will it survive a decade in space?
hey, most don't even work a decade on earth!

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

It is still touch and go whether NH will be launched in 2006 -- a final decision will be made on this in April. If it is delayed until 2007, the flight, without a Jupiter gravity assist, will take three years longer -- but as a compensation, NH will be more likely to have its supply of plutonium fuel (whose processing has been very seriously delayed by the Los Alamos security scandal) topped up enough to allow it to fly by one or more KBOs after Pluto. It is very much open to doubt whether it could operate long enough to reach another KBO after Pluto if it's launched in 2006, despite its shorter flight time.

[cIclops]

Audio interview with Hew Horizons (NH) Principle Investigator, Alan Stern available here:

http://www.planetary.org/audio/pr20050214.html

Project update based on audio interview:

NH in final assembly stage: 5 out of 6 science instruments mounted on spacecraft
launch vehicle under contract
application for launch approval pending

launch window is two weeks long starting January 2006, launching in early part of the window means arrival in July 2015.

329 days till launch window opens

[Alan Stern]

Attached is a picture of New Horizons in build from last month. Enjoy!

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[lyford]

Attached is a picture of New Horizons in build from last month. Enjoy!

WOW - they're gonna need longer cables than that if they want to reach to Pluto!

Nice pic, thank you! - Where is the spacecraft being assembled?

[dot.dk]

Remember to send your name to Pluto

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ecard/sendName_ecard_content.html

[Alan Stern]

New Horizons is being assembled at Johns Hopkins, Applied Physics Lab. If you are not familiar with APL, it is where NEAR, CONTOUR, and MESSENGER were built, along with approx. 30 earth orbital missions, like TIMED, Transit, and MSX. By mid-summer the spacecraft is planned to be at Goddard for environmental testing.

[remcook]

Great news! thanks for the input Alan...didn't know PI's post on message boards

so, is everything going on schedule?

[Alan Stern]

Well, PIs are just people as far as I can tell.

New Horizons has its challenges, like many missions, but the big picture is very promising. We just passed a major review at NASA HQ, and we have over 80% of the flight avionics on the spacecraft. Mission sims begin next month.

At the same time we are building NH, we are pressing for a backup mission, New Horizons 2 for launch in 2008-2009.

[DEChengst]

Alan, can you give an update on the RTG status ?

[Alan Stern]

The RTG and the necessary fuel are both in good shape. Previous problems resolved.
All needed fuel is now ready. We expect 190 W or a tad more at Pluto in mid-2015.
The s/c requires ~165W, so there is a healthy margin. The launch approval process
has begun, and will take the remainder of the year to complete.

[DEChengst]

The RTG and the necessary fuel are both in good shape. Previous problems resolved. All needed fuel is now ready. We expect 190 W or a tad more at Pluto in mid-2015. The s/c requires ~165W, so there is a healthy margin.

Why does bad news always make big headlines and the good news somehow just doesn't get mentioned ? They scare the hell out off you by telling telling New Horizons may fly late or not at all due to lack of plutonium, but once the problems are solved the press somehow keeps silent. Thanks for the update and making me sleep a little bit better tonight

[djellison]

'Good' News isnt sexy. If the US media is anything like the UK media - then they love talking a story up ( NH getting funding to go ahead ) then smashing it to pieces. They do it with sports stars, governmental projects, anything

And they'll never set the record straight when things pan out properly.

Doug

[cIclops]

Why does bad news always make big headlines and the good news somehow just doesn't get mentioned ?

Recall the old adage "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" :>

[cIclops]

The RTG and the necessary fuel are both in good shape.  Previous problems resolved.
All needed fuel is now ready. We expect 190 W or a tad more at Pluto in mid-2015.
The s/c requires ~165W, so there is a healthy margin. The launch approval process
has begun, and will take the remainder of the year to complete.

Welcome to our humble forum Alan, pull up a keyboard and make yourself comfortable

What great news, NH is all gassed up and raring to go! I've got so many questions I hardly know where to start.

Okay how about with these two:

Given the 190+tad Watts at Pluto, how far out will that take NH?

Does NH have a really minimal power mode that will allow very low data rates (seconds per bit perhaps) for super extended missions?

Certificate No. 1125

324 days to launch window

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

Short article on New Horizons at the Planetary Society website:

http://www.planetary.org/pluto_75/pluto_ne...ons_190205.html

[Alan Stern]

Given the 190+tad Watts at Pluto, how far out will that take NH?

This depends on when we launch in the 2006 window or the backup 2007
window because the exit velocity varies with launch date. The basic answer
is that predicts show that we have sufficient power to run out to 2025, which
corresponds to ~50-60 AU if all goes well.

Does NH have a really minimal power mode that will allow very low data rates (seconds per bit perhaps) for super extended missions?

We have data rate capabilities down to 10 bps, but using them doesn't extend
the lifetime or range estimates above. That said, there may be some heroic
things one could do if all's well to extend further. We have't looked at that.
Our job is to keep our eye on the Pluto ball, and there's more than enough
to keep us busy with that.

[DEChengst]

About the 768 bit/sec datarate at Pluto: Is this what can be achieved with the current DSN or with planned upgrades to the DSN ? Because if it can be guaranteed with the current DSN, it's not unlikely that DSN will get better recievers in the coming 10 years that would allow for higher datarates

[Alan Stern]

Yes, the 768 bps is for the current system-- 70 m antennas at a range of 33 AU.
If their are improvements in DSN that are compatable with our telecom design, we could take advantage of them. .. That aside, you might be interested to know that it looks like our actual as-tested telecom performance is 1.5-2x better than the 768 bps spec performance, which is of course good news-- for those of us interested in faster downlinks.

-Alan

[cIclops]

Thank you for such fast and succinct replies Alan. It must be my turn now to ask the next question

I'm curious about NH's software and its level of autonomy but I've been unable to find any description of it other than it runs on Mongoose V R3000 processors. The ten year flight gives plenty of time to design powerful new heuristics to optimize data collection during encounters.

To what extent does the NH software process follow the Cassini code while you fly model?

[alan]

The RTG and the necessary fuel are both in good shape.  Previous problems resolved. All needed fuel is now ready. We expect 190 W or a tad more at Pluto in mid-2015. The s/c requires ~165W, so there is a healthy margin.

Why does bad news always make big headlines and the good news somehow just doesn't get mentioned ? They scare the hell out off you by telling telling New Horizons may fly late or not at all due to lack of plutonium, but once the problems are solved the press somehow keeps silent. Thanks for the update and making me sleep a little bit better tonight

The shortage of plutonium was caused by an alleged security problem at one of the labs. A couple of CDs with classified information on them went missing and everything stopped while they reviewed security protocols etc. I read recently that the CDs that were susposedly missing never existed and all the fuss was over an inventory problem.

[cIclops]

The shortage of plutonium was caused by an alleged security problem at one of the labs. A couple of CDs with classified information on them went missing and everything stopped while they reviewed security protocols etc.  I read recently that the CDs that were susposedly missing never existed and all the fuss was over an inventory problem.

It's unlikely that whatever is made public about highly classified labs is true and should be taken with a very small pinch of Uranium salt


323 days to opening of primary launch window

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

The Feb. 17 "Nature" has a news item on the revelation that the missing disks never existed -- and if it's a cover story, it's an oddly counterproductive one. According to the magazine, most of Los Alamos' scientists are in an absolute fury over all this, and some of them are quitting.

[DEChengst]

You might be interested to know that it looks like our actual as-tested telecom performance is 1.5-2x better than the 768 bps spec performance, which is of course good news-- for those of us interested in faster downlinks.

Aren't we all interested in faster downlinks ? When we got our first modem 1200 bps was considered fast. A lot of BBSes would only support 300 bps. Some were running on older hardware and would do 300/75 bps max. It took quite a while to download even one floppy to your 8088 box. Today my ADSL line got upgraded to 8192/1024 Kbps. Downloaded a 50 MB Mars panorama in about a minute. Imagine how long that would have taken to download on one of those 300 bps BSSes. Having memories of using 300 bps the logical conclusion is that I'm getting old

[Guest_Guest_*]

The autonomy software is a rule-based system being put in place pre-flight. We do not expect to upgrtade it unless bugs occur that are not revealed in the (extensive) ground testing.

IThe system is based on the autonomy engine APL did for MESSENGER, with some improvements.

[cIclops]

The autonomy software is a rule-based system being put in place pre-flight. We do not expect to upgrtade it unless bugs occur that are not revealed in  the (extensive) ground testing.

IThe system is based on the autonomy engine APL did for MESSENGER, with some improvements.

Thanks for the details.

Here is a description of the APL rule based autonomy system: PDF file

Ten years is a very long time in the software universe, there may be other better approaches such as neural networks available by 2015. To make the most intelligent use of spacecraft resources during encounter is it possible to significantly enhance the software?

[Alan Stern]

Ten years is a very long time in the software universe, there may be other better approaches such as neural networks available by 2015. To make the most intelligent use of spacecraft resources during encounter is it possible to significantly enhance the software?

It's not about doing what is best in terms of systems efficiency, it's about minimizing risk. The saying we use is that "better is the enemy of good enough." There is also that pesky detail of having limited budgets, so aerospace geeks and PIs love to say,
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Enough said.

[cIclops]

It's not about doing what is best in terms of systems efficiency, it's about minimizing risk. The saying we use is that "better is the enemy of good enough."  There is also that pesky detail of having limited budgets, so aerospace geeks and PIs love to say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Enough said.

"Better is the enemy of good enough" yes I've heard that one before. Apparently it was the motto hung on the wall of Admiral Sergei Gorshkov, father and architect of the modern Soviet Navy, to remind him of the relative quality of the US and Soviet fleets.

Clearly in a project like NH success is the only real measure and that means the
unfailing execution of the baseline mission. Yet as technology advances there is a pattern of significantly reducing risk either by adding more complexity or by using new approaches. The test test test method is limited by the time and resources available and constrained by the design.

"He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough" - Lao Tsu

[chris]

Ten years is a very long time in the software universe, there may be other better approaches such as neural networks available by 2015. To make the most intelligent use of spacecraft resources during encounter is it possible to significantly enhance the software?

In my experience of writing software, the main things that makes for robustness are good design, good developers, and testing, testing, and more testing. The increasing use of techniques like unit and functional testing in the commercial environments I work in is testament to this. And remember that robustness for a spacecraft is orders of magnitude harder than for anything on Earth. You can't push a reset button if it all goes wrong. (The fact that JPL got Spirit back after the flash filesystem cock-up is one of the things that has impressed me the most about the technology on the MERs).

I'm not an expert in neural networks, but a good friend of mine did his PhD on them, and from what he tells me they would be a very bad choice for spacecraft. They are impossible to debug, and often are not doing what you think they are.

This (http://neil.fraser.name/writing/tank/) is a famous neural network story. It may be apocryphal, but I'm told it gives a flavour of the kind of problems you can end up with.

Chris

[djellison]

Attached is a picture of New Horizons in build from last month. Enjoy!

For those trying to get their bearings - we're looking at the side onto which the RTG will be mounted. the SWAP instrument is sticking out on the right by the bunnysuited engineers. ALICE and RALPH are sort of hidden round the corner on the left - and above SWAP on the right just under the HGA is PEPSSI

I hereby award NH with the Acronyms-of-the-Year award

Doug

[Borek]

What spacecraft stabilization will be used during cruise phase? Will it be spin-stabilized? If yes, is there any chance of gathering data relevant to the Pioneer Anomaly investigation?

Borek

[djellison]

Well - attitude is all done with thrusters (no reac. wheels) , so I guess it'll be spin stab for much of the cruise - despinning for observations as and when appropriate - Alan will fill us in I'm sure

Doug

[Alan Stern]

Yes, we spin most of cruise, stopping only rarely. It costs fuel that we want to hoard for encounters and KBO DeltaV. And yes, our radio science team hopes to look for
the Pioneer anaomaly. Contact Len Tyler or Ivan Linscott at Stanford.

-Alan

[cIclops]

For those interested in how such things are done now here is a link to an index of the draft environmental impact statement for NH.

[Alan Stern]

For those interested, various interesting information aboiut New Horizons can be found at www.boulder.swri.edu/pkb

And here is another nice image some may wish to download.

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[MiniTES]

Dr. Stern, what, if any, flyby science are you planning to do at Jupiter, assuming that there is a Jupiter flyby?

[Alan Stern]

Extensive Jupiter system science is planned-- a great deal focus on meteoroligical
inviestigations of Jupiter using IR imaging spectroscopy. There is also a good bit of
satellite imaging and spectroscopy, stellar occulations of Jupiter's atmosphere, dust studies in the Jovian system, and a magnetospheric tail explortation that is wholly unique becaue NH will fly down the tail hundreds of AU as it exists toward Pluto-Charon.
One dirty little secret of NH: We'll return far more bits from Jupiter than Pluto,
largely becasue we can, given the closer range.

We also plan to use Jupiter as a cal target and as ops practice on the way to Pluto.
(and we just found a Centaur to study-- albeit from long range, in 2010-- 2002 GO).

-Alan Stern

[tedstryk]

I have read that closest approach won't be too far outside the orbit of Callisto. Will Callisto actually be nearby. Also, with its telescopic capability, what kind of resolution will New Horizons be able to get on the Galileans?

[MiniTES]

I have read that closest approach won't be too far outside the orbit of Callisto. Will Callisto actually be nearby. Also, with its telescopic capability, what kind of resolution will New Horizons be able to get on the Galileans?

To add to that, how will that compare with Galileo and Voyager images? Have the parts of Callisto or the other Galileans that could be imaged at a high resolution already been imaged at such a resolution by Galileo or will they be new areas?

[Alan Stern]

All this depends on which day in Jan 2006 we launch, which in turn ocrresponds to which day in 2007 we arrive at Jupiter. Callisto and other moons way be close, or may be far--- depending on when we arrive. What we can say for sure-- now in 2005-- is this:
the cloest approach of NH to Jupiter will be almost 4 times closer than Cassini, i.e., at about 38 Rj.

-Alan Stern

[tedstryk]

Assuming there are no delays from Jan 2006, what kind of resolution could LORRI get for Io? (I figure it won't vary nearly as much as Callisto no matter where it is, unless it is behind Jupiter at closest approach)

Thanks,

Ted

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

I attended the 2003 DPS meeting -- and, specifically, the special session on science goals for NH's Jupiter flyby. The impression I got is that the most interesting aspect of that flyby will be, not its imaging of the moons, but its near-IR spectra of them -- which will be much better than those from either Galileo or Cassini (better instrument than the former; much closer than the latter), and may well provide us with very interesting new data on their surface compositions.

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

By "much better spectra", of course I mean in spectral resolution -- obviously they'll be pretty much whole-disk spectra, unlike Galileo's; but their spectral resolution will be so much better that they have a good chnce of revealing new surface constituents.

[Alan Stern]

The LORRI imager's resolution on Io, depending on where it is in its orbit will be between roughly 12 and 15 km per pixel at closest approach.

[tedstryk]

That should be good to look for changes at smaller scales than can be seen from earth since I32

[DEChengst]

I attended the 2003 DPS meeting -- and, specifically, the special session on science goals for NH's Jupiter flyby. The impression I got is that the most interesting aspect of that flyby will be, not its imaging of the moons, but its near-IR spectra of them -- which will be much better than those from either Galileo or Cassini (better instrument than the former; much closer than the latter), and may well provide us with very interesting new data on their surface compositions.

How about the resolution it will get on Jupiter ? Will it beat this splendid mosaic made by Cassini:

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA04866.jpg

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Oh, yes -- although, since NH's bit rate will be far lower than Cassini's, it won't make nearly as MANY mosaics of Jupiter.

[cIclops]

Oh, yes -- although, since NH's bit rate will be far lower than Cassini's, it won't make nearly as MANY mosaics of Jupiter.

What will be the maximum data transmission rate at Jupiter?

315 days to first launch opportunity

[tedstryk]

New Horizons does have much more storage capacity than Cassini. So it could perhaps store a lot of stuff onboard for more boring parts of the cruise.

[Alan Stern]

New Horizons will be able to transmit at 37 Kbps from Jupter, and a little over 1 Kbps from Pluto. The s/c has redundent 64 Gbit solid state recorders.

As to Jupiter imaging resolution, color images made near closest approach (C/A) will be
of a resolution comparable to the Cassini image posted above. Panchromatic images will be about 3X better. However in both cases the imagers are very senstivie, having
been designed for optimal perfomance at 32 AU. As such, there is likely to be
overexposure in regions away from the terminator near C/A.

[tedstryk]

You mentioned a distant Centaur flyby. Assuming the launch date doesn't change, what do you mean by distant? 1 million km? 50 million km?

[Alan Stern]

Ted,

2002 GO will be 2.7 AU awa-- good OpNav practice and a chance to get a solid phase
curve. We will search along the path for better (closer) candidates after launch, but
Monte Carlo sims tell us not to expect anything close enough to generate real maps
unless we get incredibly lucky.

[MiniTES]

Has any thought been given to what Kupier Belt objects might be encountered after launch? How close might those flybys be? Or does that also depend on the launch date?

[Alan Stern]

A lot of work has gone into KBO flyby planning. NH1 can probably only get
to 1 or maybe 2 KBOs, and those will be small, i.e., Eros-sized or a bit
smaller. This is because after we leave Pluto-Charon, we can only
maneuver 100 m/s or so off this course, which means turning only ~0.1 deg.

(NH2 can hit a large KBO because we can target it from Jupiter or Uranus
as the "substitute" first target for Pluto.)

We will not choose the first NH1 target KBO until about 2012, because
we will have much better knowledge of KBOs by then in general, and
the possible targets along our trajectory in particular.

-Alan

[djellison]

Now leave the man alone so he can go and finish it before Jan '06

Doug

[Alan Stern]

Doug- Thanks, I do have a day job-- in fact, three of them by last count. Maybe I should assign someone to do Q&A with this site. The questions are good ones.

-Alan

[tedstryk]

I think I speak for everyone here in saying that we greatly appreciate your taking the time to answer our questions.

[MiniTES]

I think I speak for everyone here in saying that we greatly appreciate your taking the time to answer our questions.

I second that.

[lyford]

I think I speak for everyone here in saying that we greatly appreciate your taking the time to answer our questions.

I second that.

Let me also chime in that your presence on this board is most awesome!

I think Pluto holds a special place in the public consciousness, being the "last" planet out there and the only one not directly visited by a mission yet. I have been waiting for a Pluto mission since I was a kid - and finally watching it happen, hearing the details in real time by no one less than the PI is wonderful. Tomorrow I am taking my 5th grade class to Send Your Name To Pluto and having them sign up... Let the Inner - Outer Solar System rivalry begin!

[djellison]

Perhaps we should start a thread and just submit questions to it - then if you can find someone appropriate Alan - I can string them together into a coherent set of questions that 'tell the story' fire them off in an email and then report back here?

Doug

[DEChengst]

Maybe I should assign someone to do Q&A with this site. The questions are good ones.

I think it's great to have you onboard Alan. It's so cool to be able to ask questions to the people actually working on the mission and get a response within a day. Compared to these days, Voyager happened in the dark ages. You had to wait a month for a magazine to see the first results, and ofcourse that wouldn't anwser all the question you had. Internet is a great tool to make people enthousiastic about a mission and give them something back for the tax money they pay to fund the missions. I really like the MER and Cassini rawimages website as you can use them to create your own mosaics. I hope New Horizons will do the same. If you do so I think it would be great to include some target pointing and distance information in the filename as this would really help us amateurs to find matching images to create mosaics from. MER includes a lot of info in the filename which is great, Cassini does not which makes them harder to use.

A lot of visitors on this forum also hang out on IRC in #space at irc.freenode.net. Perhaps you would like to join some time for an interactive question and anwser session ?

[Roby72]

Alan,

I also most appreciate your interest in our forum. Its fantastic to see the progress in building NH as a real spacecraft, after this long series of troubles.

Therefore I have my own special question - sometimes in the late 80s there was a mission called TAU on the drawboards of NASA I believe. It would have a ion engine to reach 1000 A.U. and this far away point should enabled the TAU-craft to obtain extremely precise astrometric measurements (parallaxes out to the Magellanic clouds!). Could NH accomplish some astrometric measures out to 50 A.U. ? Is the original TAU-craft still a secret project at NASA ?

Sometimes in about 10 years from now, ESA would fly the GAIA mission, also a precise astrometric mission, but near Earth.

regards
Robert

[cIclops]

...  sometimes in the late 80s there was a mission called TAU on the drawboards of NASA I believe.

yes, it now seems to be the 400 AU Interstellar Probe concept ... lots of details here

[cIclops]

Alan has written a new piece updating the status of NH and his feelings towards the project click here

I hope we'll see more photos before the thermal blankets cover the innards.

312 days left before launch window opens

[john_s]

Hi- this is John Spencer, frequent lurker (and occasional contributor) on this forum. I'm also a New Horizons science team member, and rashly volunteered to help Alan Stern get back to running the mission by helping him answer New Horizons questions here. So fire away...

We just had a meeting of the science team here in Boulder, and we are all starting to get psyched about the fast-approaching launch. Along with several other current team members I've been working on some version of this mission since the early 1990s, and we are so used to it being a distant and hypothetical idea that it's a shock as well as a thrill to have everything becoming so real so quickly.

[cIclops]

Hi- this is John Spencer, frequent lurker (and occasional contributor) on this forum.  I'm also a New Horizons science team member, and rashly volunteered to help Alan Stern get back to running the mission by helping him answer New Horizons questions here.  So fire away...

Welcome john_s !

I must say it is refreshing to have real project people willing to subject themselves to this type of free for all discussion. It's not only an opportunity for those of us on the outside to interact and learn but also a way for us to feel a part of the adventure. Stand by for the first shot ....



NET 307 days to launch

[lyford]

Welcome John - let the interrogation begin!

[clemmentine]

Thank you, john_s, for taking the time to answer our questions.

According to the New Horizons website, NH will be 11,095 km from Pluto at closest approach. Isn't that inside the orbit of Charon since the pair is 19,600 km apart (according to here)?
I seem to remember that at one time, it was thought that Pluto's atmosphere may envelop Charon. Is that no longer considered likely or is the Pluto CA distance preliminary and can be changed via TCMs?

[john_s]

According to the New Horizons website, NH will be 11,095 km from Pluto at closest approach.  Isn't that inside the orbit of Charon ...
I seem to remember that at one time, it was thought that Pluto's atmosphere may envelop Charon.  Is that no longer considered likely or is the Pluto CA distance preliminary and can be changed via TCMs?

That's funny, we were just talking in the hallway yesterday about how we might get close enough to Pluto to detect some deceleration of the spacecraft due to Pluto's atmosphere- not sure yet if that's possible though I suspect the effect will be negligible. The atmosphere is indeed pretty extended, due to the low gravity, and one of the spacecraft's tasks is to estimate its escape rate via Pluto's perturbation to the solar wind. At 11,000 km altitude the atmosphere will pose no risk to the spacecraft.

You're right that we can easily change the flyby altitude, and the current value is just a working number. Coming closer gives better measurements of Pluto's gravity and solar wind perturbations, but makes imaging more difficult due increased smear rates and slew times.

[Alan Stern]

Sports fans-- Updated NH mission and payload Powerpoints presentations have been posted at www.boulder.swri.edu/pkb

Enjoy.

Onward to 2006,
-Alan

[cIclops]

Updated NH mission and payload Powerpoints presentations have been posted at www.boulder.swri.edu/pkb

Yummy, thanks!

According to the Mission Overview (24MB) the observatory phase begins C/A - 4 weeks and the post encounter studies last 2 weeks, why are these periods so different?

[Alan Stern]

Outbound is less interesting. as Pluto is a crescent, and already explored at high-resolution on approach. About 2 weeks post-encounter we do the KBO targeting maneuver, and then begin the less hectic, final observation phase for pluto-Charon.

[cIclops]

Thanks for the fast reply, too fast for this edit

Also there is no capability for the "search for magnetic fields" in the science tracability matrix of the Payload Overview (14MB) yet there is a solar wind particle detector, won't this instrument be able to indirectly detect the plasma sheet of Pluto's field if it exists?

[Alan Stern]

Yes, very perceptive. Back in 2001, we carefully considerd but rejected flying a MAG on NH because it greatly complicates the s/c (booms, magnetic cleanliness, etc.).
However, SWAP (our solar wind particle detector) can potentially infer a mag field at
Pluto-Charon based on the particle flux trace through the system and the kinds of
solar wind disturbances/magnetospheric boundaries the instrument discovers.

[Alan Stern]

There are several new NH downloads including an EPO poster at
www.boulder.swri.edu/pkb for those interested.

[MiniTES]

There are several new NH downloads including an EPO poster at
www.boulder.swri.edu/pkb for those interested.

Thanks, Alan.

[lyford]

There are several new NH downloads including an EPO poster at
www.boulder.swri.edu/pkb for those interested.

Time to buy more printer cartridges! Thanks, Alan.

[imran]

Public Hearings Set for Pluto Mission

"The spacecraft and instruments are undergoing a very rigorous test program over the next few months," said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "This begins with systems testing, and then proceeds to shake tests and space environment thermal vacuum testing," he told SPACE.com.

After reviews are completed under the National Environmental Policy Act, if NASA decides to proceed with the mission, the spacecraft would await presidential approval to launch next January.

Good luck, Alan.

[Alan Stern]

Thanks for the best wishes, enjoy the download candy.

Onward to 2006!
-Alan

[djellison]

Ahh - good 'ol Shake and Bake.

I saw the flight structure for a comm sat undergo a launch simulation shake about 7 years ago. Astonishing noise - the sort of noise that you can feel in oyur stomach. How such precise delicate machines can be designed to withstand extremes of acceleration, heat and pressue is one of the miracles of modern science.

Doug

[imran]

Press Briefing To Be Held March 29 for Pluto New Horizons Environmental Impact Statement

A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for NASA's planned New Horizons mission to Pluto has been released for a 45-day public comment period that ends April 11. A press briefing will be held at 10 a.m. EST on March 29 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) News Center to acquaint the media with the mission to Pluto and its moon, Charon, and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement associated with the launch.

[MiniTES]

Press Briefing To Be Held March 29 for Pluto New Horizons Environmental Impact Statement

A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for NASA's planned New Horizons mission to Pluto has been released for a 45-day public comment period that ends April 11. A press briefing will be held at 10 a.m. EST on March 29 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) News Center to acquaint the media with the mission to Pluto and its moon, Charon, and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement associated with the launch.

These things always baffle me. Is it as if the launch will destroy the environment or something like that?

[dvandorn]

These things always baffle me. Is it as if the launch will destroy the environment or something like that?

Not if the launch goes as planned, no. But any time you launch a spacecraft with plutonium on board, a launch failure has the potential (however remote) of introducing said plutonium to the environment. The E.I.S. is just a safeguard to make sure NASA has taken reasonable precautions against any negative environmental impact from plutonium handling before, during and after the launch.

I'm not one of the anti-nuke whackos, believe me -- I believe NASA does, indeed, take all reasonable precautions. But I also think it's a good idea to hold *anyone* using or handling such dangerously toxic materials as plutonium to a very high safety standard.

-the other Doug

[djellison]

I wonder what would happen if the public knew of all the military payloads that carry such things that never make the news in any way what soever

Doug

[dvandorn]

I wonder what would happen if the public knew of all the military payloads that carry such things that never make the news in any way what soever

Doug

Honestly, I think a majority of Americans wouldn't care all that much. It's only a relatively small lunatic fringe here that is swayed by the anti-nuke Chicken Littles.

I may be a little overly optimistic, here, but I think a large majority of the general public understands that the risks of disaster are relatively tiny.

-the other Doug

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Personally -- and speaking as someone who (to my continuing amazement) apparently did play a major role in getting NASA to reverse its original rejection of this probe, through my series of SpaceDaily articles (details on request) -- I remain very uneasy about launching something as toxic as Pu-238 unless it's absolutely necessary, and I would hope they can hold it to an absolute minimum in future missions. For instance, not a single one of the four proposed highest-priority New Frontiers concepts after New Horizons -- including the Jupiter polar orbiter -- requires it. I'm not wildly happy about their putting it on MSL; I think there might very well be ways to make a solar power system work effectively(including dust-cleaning mechanisms and concentrator mirrors).

Actually, I'm a lot less uneasy about orbiting nuclear reactors, since those use U-235 -- which is normally extremely non-radioactive -- as their fuel, and so don't start producing dangerous radioisotopes until they've actually been turned on and allowed to run a while. Put them into a high Earth orbit before you do that and they are no danger whatsoever.

[MiniTES]

Personally -- and speaking as someone who (to my continuing amazement) apparently did play a major role in getting NASA to reverse its original rejection of this probe, through my series of SpaceDaily articles (details on request) -- I remain very uneasy about launching something as toxic as Pu-238 unless it's absolutely necessary, and I would hope they can hold it to an absolute minimum in future missions.  For instance, not a single one of the four proposed highest-priority New Frontiers concepts after New Horizons -- including the Jupiter polar orbiter -- requires it.  I'm not wildly happy about their putting it on MSL; I think there might very well be ways to make a solar power system work effectively(including dust-cleaning mechanisms and concentrator mirrors).

Actually, I'm a lot less uneasy about orbiting nuclear reactors, since those use U-235 -- which is normally extremely non-radioactive -- as their fuel, and so don't start producing dangerous radioisotopes until they've actually been turned on and allowed to run a while.  Put them into a high Earth orbit before you do that and they are no danger whatsoever.

Can you say "RORSAT"?

[cIclops]

Redux an earlier post. While browsing through the summaries of the recent Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI (2005) Conference this paper about maximizing mission science return caught my attention. It outlines a successful flight experiment onboard the EO-1 spacecraft called the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE).

This type of software based intelligence demonstrated the capability to make decisions on instrument targeting and to optimize the data stored and transmitted. For the critical close encounter phases of the mission this may be extremely valuable.

no less than 287 days before 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.

[Decepticon]

Thanks for the quick answer!


As long as global imaging of Europa will be done, I'll be VERY happy!



I'm so excited about this mission.

[john_s]

As long as global imaging of Europa will be done, I'll be VERY happy!

Sorry, but it's unlikely that we'll get complete global imaging of Europa, because due to the overexposure problem we will only have a narrow strip of unsaturated terrain near the terminator in each image, so it would take too many images to build up complete coverage. Even on Io, where global imaging is higher priority, we probably won't achieve that goal. But we'll do our best...

Glad you're excited about the mission- so are we!

[Guest_Sunspot_*]

I want to see Io......

....I miss Galileo

[tedstryk]

I do too. I would like to see a Galileo-2 type mission. It could probably be developed more quickly than a Europa orbiter. With a high data rate and a very large data recorder, it could really send back some incredible shots. My bias against the Europa orbiter is basically my hands down rejection of the case that Europa is more interesting than the other moons. I think it is one member of a four part set that all need to be understood (in addition to the planet and inner moons) in order to understand the Jovian system (and outer moons, if they are not all captured asteroids).

[Decepticon]

I'm curious if there is a trajectory map is available threw the Jupiter system?


Also will any close encounters with asteroid's on the way out?



Sorry for all the questions, the main horizon page does not cover these questions in detail.

[djellison]

I'm curious if there is a trajectory map is available threw the Jupiter system?

As John said - not until after launch. The exact launch date will define where the jovian moons will be at the flyby - and launch windows and elv's being what they are - the only time you can guarentee when you're going to leave the ground is when you've done it :0

Doug

[cIclops]

With its 20cm scope NH will be able to perform a population survey of the Kuiper belt by direct imaging and by measuring dust debris, what search strategy will be used?

282 more days and nights before launch