New Horizons–Pluto & Beyond

The math behind the New Horizons space mission is boggling: launched in early 2006, the spacecraft is in transit to the dwarf planet Pluto and its five known natural satellites, two of which were discovered after the mission launch. Pluto orbits more than 48 times as far from the Sun as does the Earth, and when New Horizons sweeps by its destination in 2015, it will have been en route for more than nine years. That’s right, folks: Pluto lies more than 5.7 billion km (3.54 billion mi) from Earth.

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And though the distant Plutonian system is NH’s goal, it has already had quite a cruise getting to where it is (at present, about five astronomical units from its destination). The spacecraft has flown by the small asteroid 132524 APL, measuring its chemical composition (the asteroid turns out to be S-type), and Jupiter and its moons (September 2006), sending back some spectacular photos from the encounter.

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But this is the boggling part: after photographing Jupiter and its court, New Horizons began its years-long, deep-space cruise. And after the Pluto flyby, there may be more: NH might be able to study some Kuiper Belt objects. The incentive is great: not many spacecraft have gotten this far carrying a science payload this sophisticated.

And here’s the kicker: New Horizons is the first of NASA’s New Frontier missions, which will also study Jupiter and Venus.

Kazahwa-wow-wow!

RT

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Photo: Top: Launch of the New Horizons space probe, January 19, 2006. WikiCmns; NASA, Public Domain. Bottom: Jupiter detail via LEISA infrared camera, re-mapped to visible colors and contrast-enhanced. Taken by New Horizons probe. WikiCmns; NASA/JPL; Public Domain.

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