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Full Version: Where is New Horizons now
Unmanned Spaceflight.com > Outer Solar System > Pluto / KBO > New Horizons
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cawest
i found this web site

http://www.heavens-above.com/solar-escape.asp

it show where NH is compared to voy1, 2/pioneer

any one else have a fav web page that shows NH loc? I think this one is updated onece a day
ugordan
You won't believe this, but the New Horizons' official site also has diagrams showing the current position. tongue.gif
Toma B
QUOTE (ugordan @ Mar 29 2006, 06:10 PM) *
You won't believe this, but the New Horizons' official site also has diagrams showing the current position. tongue.gif

...and it is updated 24 times more often then Heavens Above is...WOW! tongue.gif tongue.gif tongue.gif
This one is updated every second...
cawest
QUOTE (ugordan @ Mar 29 2006, 05:10 PM) *
You won't believe this, but the New Horizons' official site also has diagrams showing the current position. tongue.gif


yes but the last one is blocked by most company's web blocking software.. at my company blocks it.
odave
Here's a screen capture from the NH site. I think someone in a past thread called it the "bat out of hell trajectory" smile.gif

Click to view attachment
Rob Pinnegar
Right on. NH is already one-eighth of the way to Jupiter. Speedy little guy.
gpurcell
Looking at the trajectory side view. I never realized that NH will encounter Pluto right near the point it passes the plane of the solar system.
Redstone
New Horizons passes orbit of Mars.

NH website article
Rem31
How is it possible that New Horizons has passed the orbit of Mars in only a few months? I always thought that a trip to Mars takes a year or so. And how much kilometers per second is New Horizons traveling at this moment?
Jeff7
That's assuming that you want to stay at Mars. In that case, full-speed isn't your best bet - otherwise you need a LOT of fuel to slow the spacecraft down. When we send a probe to Mars to stay there, it's done gradually, so that the probe can use a smaller amount of fuel for orbit-insertion.
New Horizons isn't concerned with any of that - it's just zipping right by.

So a flight to Mars need not take very long. Just depends on 1) if you want to land there, and 2) how much fuel you can carry.

And NH is moving at 21 kilometers/sec.
cawest
well NH is almost two AU from the sun and 1 AU from home.... movein out
tfisher
QUOTE (Jeff7 @ Apr 10 2006, 05:06 PM) *
So a flight to Mars need not take very long. Just depends on 1) if you want to land there, and 2) how much fuel you can carry.


3) How you feel about lithobraking. biggrin.gif rolleyes.gif wink.gif
cawest
so now that we are 2 AU from the sun wha is the Skin temp of the NH? anybody know?
ugordan
Errr... Skin time???
Alan Stern
We don't measure skin temp, but our bulk structure is running 27 C.

-Alan
climber
Oh oh ! Be care of what we say All...God's watching us smile.gif
Planet X
The next major milestone for New Horizons: Passing Ceres, the largest main belt asteroid

The spacecraft will cross the orbital path of Ceres on July 6, 2006. The actual passing of Ceres in heliocentric distance will take place on July 25, 2006 at 18:30 UTC due to Ceres being close to it's outermost possible distance from the sun. Indeed, the 3 AU crossing takes place just two days later on July 27, 2006! Later!

J P
Hari
Are spice kernels available for the New Horizons spacecraft? I'd like to make some pretty pictures myself!
PhilCo126
Well, it looks like we know where Dr Stern will be on 12th April laugh.gif
New Horizons Mission to Begin Pluto Encounter April 12th, 2015 in Salute to Early Space Explorers
The year 2015 will be the 54th anniversary of the spaceflight of Yuri Gagarin, the first person to orbit the Earth and the 34th anniversary of the first Shuttle launch. Each April 12, Yuri's Night holds parties around the planet to commemorate these occasions. New Horizons mission PI Dr. Alan Stern will be present at theYuri's Night Washington, D.C. party to talk more about the mission...
cawest
QUOTE (ugordan @ May 9 2006, 09:58 AM) *
Errr... Skin temp???



We don't measure skin temp, but our bulk structure is running 27 C.

-Alan

can we have an update please

it was 80.6F it would be nice if we could get a monthly update on this.. i would like to see how cold NH will get. thanks
MahFL
NH is designed to stay warm inside, its built like a vaccum flask.
Planet X
UPDATE! On 05/03/2007, at 00:01:54 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 900 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is 772 million km. NH is now less than 3.837 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 21.31 km/s. Later!

J P
cawest
UPDATE. She is now 1AU from Jupiter and still seems to be doing good.
Planet X
Important milestone! On 07/06/2007, at 21:30:30 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached it's first 1 billion km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is 870.4 million km. NH is now less than 3.72 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 20.6 km/s. Later!

J P
Greg Hullender
Looking at the New Horizons Current Position chart: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/mission/whereis_nh.php

I notice that we'll be moving off the edge of the top chart in a few months. Rather than dropping the chart entirely or rescaling it to make it closer to the "Full Trajectory" chart, I wonder if it would be possible to simply shift the center of the chart, keeping the scale the same. That is, instead of putting the sun at the center, would it be possible to center the chart on the point where New Horizons crossed the orbit of Jupiter? I'm pretty sure that'd keep the start point on the chart, and if we're lucky, it'd include the point where New Horizons will cross the orbit of Uranus. That's just past the half-way point, if I figure it correctly.

Failing that, switching to a chart that kept the same scale but was centered on New Horizons itself would be almost as good.

--Greg
Planet X
UPDATE! On 09/10/2007, at 08:36:45 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 1100 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is nearly 1.108 billion km. Halfway between the mean orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, NH is now less than 3.616 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 19.97 km/s. Later!

J P
cawest
QUOTE (Planet X @ Sep 10 2007, 10:39 AM) *
UPDATE! On 09/10/2007, at 08:36:45 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 1100 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is nearly 1.108 billion km. Halfway between the mean orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, NH is now less than 3.616 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 19.97 km/s. Later!

J P



just an FYI NH is down to 70,000 KPH but still going good
Alan Stern
...And crossing 8 AU early next week.
Greg Hullender
Going to be hard to find interesting milestones over the next seven years. I note, though, that on April 1, 2008, it should reach the "Browserpause," which is that thin white space on the "Current Position" map right where the path exits the picture. :-)

--Greg
YesRushGen
Regarding milestones with which to follow NH's progress, I found myself wondering if there are any minor objects that orbit between Jupiter and Saturn's orbits. I came across the following abstract:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/t74010qg40q4745l/

The abstract seems to indicate that there are 5 known objects between Jupiter and Saturn's orbit. I'm trying to search for more info. We could use these object's orbits as a sort of milestone. cool.gif

edit: This plot suggests that there are many more: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/OuterPlot.html
alan
Not counting comets and Jupiter Trojans there are currently 40 minor objects between 5 and 10 AU from the sun (by my calculations at least)

Next object New Horizons will pass (in current distance from the sun) is 2000 GM137, a centaur at 8.06 AU
infocat13
I would like to know the current location of the star motor upper stage please
djellison
It will not have been tracked since launch - it would only be a best guess - you may find some info regarding it in the annals of the NH website, it was mentioned in the past.

Doug
Planet X
UPDATE! On 11/15/2007, at 11:04:35 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 1200 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is nearly 1.332 billion km. NH is now only 3.514 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 19.463 km/s. Later!

J P
ugordan
QUOTE (Planet X @ Nov 15 2007, 12:08 PM) *
...only 3.514 billion km from Pluto

I expect an update at only 3.14159 billion km from Pluto, as that figure will obviously be of cosmic importance as well!
cawest
QUOTE (ugordan @ Nov 15 2007, 01:03 PM) *
I expect an update at only 3.14159 billion km from Pluto, as that figure will obviously be of cosmic importance as well!



Well, NH has travelled 1.5 Billion KM (well 1.499 as this post). and she is almost 2 now
Greg Hullender
And in the "are we there yet" spirit, I note that the current-position chart has be rescaled again, so the outer boundary is now Saturn's orbit, not Jupiter's.

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/mission/whereis_nh.php

Amazing how fast we're reaching the orbit of Saturn -- after just 2.5 years. Amazing how that'll only be half-way to the orbit of Uranus. And 1/3 of the way to Neptune's.

--Greg
Planet X
UPDATE! On 01/21/2008, at 05:10:15 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 1300 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is nearly 1.419 billion km. NH is now only 3.414 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 19.026 km/s. Later!

J P
SpaceListener
As I see that New Horizons is decreasing its speed toward Pluto. How fast will NH be traveling past Pluto?
Greg Hullender
QUOTE (SpaceListener @ Jan 21 2008, 06:57 AM) *
As I see that New Horizons is decreasing its speed toward Pluto.

I blame the Sun.

--Greg :-)
MahFL
QUOTE (SpaceListener @ Jan 21 2008, 02:57 PM) *
As I see that New Horizons is decreasing its speed toward Pluto. How fast will NH be traveling past Pluto?


I think its about 12,000 mph when the Pluto flyby occurs.
Alan Stern
QUOTE (MahFL @ Jan 21 2008, 06:36 PM) *
I think its about 12,000 mph when the Pluto flyby occurs.



14 km/sec at Pluto.
ugordan
QUOTE (Alan Stern @ Jan 21 2008, 11:16 PM) *
14 km/sec at Pluto.

Relative to Pluto or the Sun? smile.gif
MahFL
QUOTE (ugordan @ Jan 21 2008, 10:27 PM) *
Relative to Pluto or the Sun? smile.gif


I meant to say 12 km/s, so I was fairly close. 14 it is then. NH will fly by Pluto at 14 km/s. huh.gif
Planet X
UPDATE! On 03/28/2008, at 16:30:15 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 1400 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is 1.372 billion km. NH is now only 3.314 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 18.628 km/s. Later!

J P
SpaceListener
NH will arrive very soon Saturn's orbit and its distance travel would be similar from Earth to Saturn and from Saturn to Uranus. Wait for another around 2 1/2 years to reach Uranus.

P.S.The times and distances shown were just done only by mentally estimating. Would be interested to hear the real numbers? smile.gif
Greg Hullender
According to the NH website, "New Horizons' next checkpoint comes on June 8, 2008, when it passes the orbit of Saturn" so it's still a couple of months away.

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/mission/passingpla...ets_current.php

Here are the other interesting dates from the same page

Uranus: March 18, 2011
Neptune: August 24, 2014
Pluto: July 14, 2015

So Uranus' orbit is almost exactly 3 years away.

--Greg
Alan Stern
These planet orbit crossings are based on whatever day we pass the distance of the planet, so although we are currently beyond Saturn's semi-major axis, Saturn is near its aphelion and we don't count the orbit crossing until we are further out than Saturn itself is. Some interesting coincidences are going to occur:

Uranus passage occurs just as MESSENGER (another APL mission) settles into Mercury orbit--same day.

Neptune passage is the 25th anniversary of Voyager 2's Neptune flyby-- essentially to the day.

Pluto encounter is the 50th anniversary of Mariner 4--the first mission to Mars--to the day.

-Alan


QUOTE (Greg Hullender @ Mar 30 2008, 09:28 PM) *
According to the NH website, "New Horizons' next checkpoint comes on June 8, 2008, when it passes the orbit of Saturn" so it's still a couple of months away.

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/mission/passingpla...ets_current.php

Here are the other interesting dates from the same page

Uranus: March 18, 2011
Neptune: August 24, 2014
Pluto: July 14, 2015

So Uranus' orbit is almost exactly 3 years away.

--Greg
nprev
Rather remarkable coincidences indeed, Alan! Come clean; you planned this all along! wink.gif tongue.gif

The Mariner 4 connection is an excellent educational tie-in on that day, which itself will be a profound milestone for UMSF: 50 years of optical reconnaissance of the Solar System, and the initial completion of same for all the planets as we understood them at the dawn of the Space Age.
SpaceListener
Alan, good comments! These will help us to feel closer to the NH mission! Every anything anniversary or milestone, will revive the presence of NH. wink.gif
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