Star 48b Third-stage Motor, Leaving the solar system Options

[Guido]

I suppose the STAR 48B third-stage, which put New Horizons on its trajectory towards Jupiter, follows about the same flight-path as the New Horizons spacecraft itself. If this is the case, will it too in the end leave our solar system?
Or has it been deflected after seperation from the spacecraft?

[Alan Stern]

I suppose the STAR 48B third-stage, which put New Horizons on its trajectory towards Jupiter, follows about the same flight-path as the New Horizons spacecraft itself. If this is the case, will it too in the end leave our solar system?
Or has it been deflected after seperation from the spacecraft?

It's going interstellar. But wll miss Pluto considerably, by >>10^7 km.

-Alan

[RNeuhaus]

It's going interstellar. But wll miss Pluto considerably, by >>10^7 km.

-Alan

In the other words, the Star 48B will follow up the NH's track until Jupiter? After Jupiter, will continue following farther or closer to NH toward Pluto? I assume that NH will make many TCM, so every time NH performs the TCM, the Star 48 B will be lagging even farther.

Have the NH team been tought about the usefulness of mass of Star 48 B to hit on Pluto as an experiment about the Pluto's properties of structure and at the same time Clyde will be able to land on that.....

Rodolfo

[Alan Stern]

We are setting up for our first course correction. Without it we would miss Pluto
by millions of miles. The third stage has no ability to make a course correction
and will therefore miss by this amount.

-Alan