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

[Alan Stern]

2014, the last year Pluto remains unknown. Enjoy it while you can.

[Astro0]

ADMIN NOTE: A few recent posts that related to NH time capsule project have now been moved to the chit chat section. The project is perhaps an interesting public outreach exercise but not related to the science of the mission itself. Any further discussion should appear in the appropriate thread.

[Alan Stern]

2014 has arrived, and after all the time and miles in the rear view mirror, the turning of the calendar page last night means we'll be exploring the Pluto system next year!

Wishing UMSF the best for 2014,
-Alan

[Alan Stern]

And by the way, Optical Navigation for the encounter begins this summer. Also this summer we'll be taking LORRI images over a full 6.4 day Pluto rotation to get phase curve data at all rotational phases on the approach asymptote--for both Pluto and for Charon.

[nprev]

Happy New Year to you, Alan, and thanks so much for keeping UMSF abreast of the latest & greatest from NH!

[illexsquid]

Strange to think... Pluto has been known all my life, and yet, even this year, still many AU out, New Horizons will have the best-paced instruments ever to have studied it, and will massively add to our sum of knowledge even before encounter. Can't wait. Thanks for the news Alan!

[Alan Stern]

Let's all enjoy this last year of not knowing Pluto in any detail!

[tedstryk]

I thought of New Horizons as a mission to a double planet. Now it's a double planet with a bunch of other moons around it. It is almost like a Voyager flyby of one of the giant planet systems but with modern instruments and without the giant.

[TheAnt]

Let's all enjoy this last year of not knowing Pluto in any detail!

You're hinting that we're not going to enjoy the detailed knowledge about Pluto?

But serious now, yes like tedstryk I view this as one unique flyby since it is one nearly unknown world.
And likely the last of such firsts for a long time. (Dawn arrives at Ceres in early 2015, and will go into orbit of Ceres in April.)

[Superstring]

Well said. I've been looking forward to 2015 for a long time because of both Dawn and New Horizons. We're going to truly see Ceres, Pluto, and Charon for the first time ever -- and in stunning detail. They will be transformed from fuzzy orbs to vivid, rich worlds. How wonderful it will be to witness such exploration!

To add, it's nicely fitting that Ceres and Pluto will be explored in the same year -- given their parallel roles in our discovery of the Main Belt and Kuiper Belt.

[Explorer1]

An update on the KBO search: 51 new ones found, but still none within reach for a close flyby.

https://twitter.com/NewHorizons2015/status/...439035767107585

More info from Ted Stryk coming in the next several days.

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs...tes-part-1.html

[nprev]

To be honest, I've always regarded a KBO encounter for NH as a nice-to-have but definitely not a need-to-have.

Interesting part here is that we're presumably getting some good data about the object density in the Kuiper Belt by virtue of this search for follow-on NH targets. Funny how we always learn something by just looking, ain't it?

[Alan Stern]

The Decadal Survey that recommended this mission very clearly stated that the KBO flybys were as important as Pluto and called the mission Pluto Kuiper Belt (PKB). As to getting a KBO or two to explore, its easily done from Hubble which can go fainter and avoid the weather/seeing problems that we've had with groundbased telescopes. We plan to propose to HST soon.

[nprev]

Did not know that, and thanks, Alan. Okay, so it's gonna happen. Cool.

[TheAnt]

.....As to getting a KBO or two to explore, its easily done from Hubble which can go fainter and avoid the weather/seeing problems that we've had with groundbased telescopes. We plan to propose to HST soon.

Thank you for your reply here Dr Stern.

And yes with Hubble it will indeed be easier to find many of the fainter but also more numerous objects though I have not hoped for any 'close' flyby of any such KBO.
I would be happy to be proven wrong on that though, so lets hold thumbs that the proposal for observation time will be approved with a decent time allotment. Since it is a one time opportunity and also will be spinoff science for the demographics on KBO's in general it could be viewed in a positive light .... erm sorry. ;p