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''New Horizons'' is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
's
New Frontiers program The New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA with the purpose of furthering the understanding of the Solar System. The program selects medium-class missions which can provide high science returns. ...
. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the
Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and devel ...
(SwRI), with a team led by Alan Stern, the spacecraft was launched in 2006 with the primary mission to perform a flyby study of the
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
system in 2015, and a secondary mission to fly by and study one or more other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) in the decade to follow, which became a mission to 486958 Arrokoth. It is the fifth space probe to achieve the escape velocity needed to leave the
Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
. On January 19, 2006, ''New Horizons'' was launched from
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the stati ...
by an
Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Mart ...
rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...
directly into an Earth-and-solar escape trajectory with a speed of about . It was the fastest (average speed with respect to Earth) man-made object ever launched from Earth. It is not the fastest speed recorded for a spacecraft, which as of 2021 is that of the Parker Solar Probe. After a brief encounter with
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
132524 APL 132524 APL, provisional designation , is a small background asteroid in the intermediate asteroid belt. It was discovered by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research in May 2002, and imaged by the '' New Horizons'' space probe on its flyby in June 2 ...
, ''New Horizons'' proceeded to
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
, making its closest approach on February 28, 2007, at a distance of . The Jupiter flyby provided a gravity assist that increased ''New Horizons'' speed; the flyby also enabled a general test of ''New Horizons'' scientific capabilities, returning data about the planet's atmosphere, moons, and
magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior d ...
. Most of the post-Jupiter voyage was spent in hibernation mode to preserve on-board systems, except for brief annual checkouts. On December 6, 2014, ''New Horizons'' was brought back online for the Pluto encounter, and instrument check-out began. On January 15, 2015, the spacecraft began its approach phase to Pluto. On July 14, 2015, at 11:49  UTC, it flew above the surface of Pluto, which at the time was 34 AU from the Sun, making it the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet. In August 2016, ''New Horizons'' was reported to have traveled at speeds of more than . On October 25, 2016, at 21:48 UTC, the last of the recorded data from the Pluto flyby was received from ''New Horizons''. Having completed its flyby of Pluto, ''New Horizons'' then maneuvered for a flyby of Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth (then nicknamed ''Ultima Thule''), which occurred on January 1, 2019, when it was 43.4  AU from the Sun. In August 2018, NASA cited results by ''
Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
'' on ''New Horizons'' to confirm the existence of a " hydrogen wall" at the outer edges of the Solar System. This "wall" was first detected in 1992 by the two Voyager spacecraft.


History

In August 1992, JPL scientist Robert Staehle called Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh, requesting permission to visit his planet. "I told him he was welcome to it," Tombaugh later remembered, "though he's got to go one long, cold trip." The call eventually led to a series of proposed Pluto missions, leading up to ''New Horizons''. Stamatios "Tom" Krimigis, head of the Applied Physics Laboratory's space division, one of many entrants in the New Frontiers Program competition, formed the ''New Horizons'' team with Alan Stern in December 2000. Appointed as the project's
principal investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often u ...
, Stern was described by Krimigis as "the personification of the Pluto mission". ''New Horizons'' was based largely on Stern's work since ''Pluto 350'' and involved most of the team from ''Pluto Kuiper Express''. Stern, Alan; The ''New Horizons'' proposal was one of five that were officially submitted to NASA. It was later selected as one of two finalists to be subject to a three-month concept study, in June 2001. The other finalist, POSSE (Pluto and Outer Solar System Explorer), was a separate, but similar Pluto mission concept by the University of Colorado Boulder, led by principal investigator Larry W. Esposito, and supported by the JPL,
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
and the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...
. However, the APL, in addition to being supported by ''Pluto Kuiper Express'' developers at the Goddard Space Flight Center and
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
, were at an advantage; they had recently developed '' NEAR Shoemaker'' for NASA, which had successfully entered orbit around 433 Eros earlier that year, and would later land on the asteroid to scientific and engineering fanfare. In November 2001, ''New Horizons'' was officially selected for funding as part of the New Frontiers program. However, the new NASA Administrator appointed by the Bush Administration, Sean O'Keefe, was not supportive of ''New Horizons'', and effectively cancelled it by not including it in NASA's budget for 2003. NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Ed Weiler prompted Stern to lobby for the funding of ''New Horizons'' in hopes of the mission appearing in the Planetary Science Decadal Survey; a prioritized "wish list", compiled by the
United States National Research Council The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (also known as NASEM or the National Academies) are the collective scientific national academy of the United States. The name is used interchangeably in two senses: (1) as an umbrell ...
, that reflects the opinions of the scientific community. After an intense campaign to gain support for ''New Horizons'', the Planetary Science Decadal Survey of 2003–2013 was published in the summer of 2002. ''New Horizons'' topped the list of projects considered the highest priority among the scientific community in the medium-size category; ahead of missions to the Moon, and even Jupiter. Weiler stated that it was a result that " isadministration was not going to fight". Funding for the mission was finally secured following the publication of the report. Stern's team was finally able to start building the spacecraft and its instruments, with a planned launch in January 2006 and arrival at Pluto in 2015. Alice Bowman became Mission Operations Manager (MOM).


Mission profile

''New Horizons'' is the first mission in NASA's New Frontiers mission category, larger and more expensive than the Discovery missions but smaller than the missions of the Flagship Program. The cost of the mission, including spacecraft and instrument development, launch vehicle, mission operations, data analysis, and education/public outreach, is approximately $700 million over 15 years (2001–2016). The spacecraft was built primarily by
Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and devel ...
(SwRI) and the
Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...
Applied Physics Laboratory. The mission's principal investigator is Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute (formerly NASA Associate Administrator). After separation from the launch vehicle, overall control was taken by Mission Operations Center (MOC) at the Applied Physics Laboratory in Howard County, Maryland. The science instruments are operated at Clyde Tombaugh Science Operations Center (T-SOC) in
Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...
. Navigation is performed at various contractor facilities, whereas the navigational positional data and related celestial reference frames are provided by the Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station through Headquarters NASA and JPL. KinetX is the lead on the ''New Horizons'' navigation team and is responsible for planning trajectory adjustments as the spacecraft speeds toward the outer Solar System. Coincidentally the Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station was where the photographic plates were taken for the discovery of Pluto's moon Charon. The Naval Observatory itself is not far from the
Lowell Observatory Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landma ...
where Pluto was discovered. ''New Horizons'' was originally planned as a voyage to the only unexplored planet in the SolarSystem. When the spacecraft was launched, Pluto was still classified as a
planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
, later to be reclassified as a dwarf planet by the
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...
(IAU). Some members of the ''New Horizons'' team, including Alan Stern, disagree with the IAU definition and still describe Pluto as the ninth planet. Pluto's satellites
Nix Nix or NIX may refer to: Places * Nix, Alabama, an unincorporated community, United States * Nix, Texas, a ghost town in southwestern Lampasas County, Texas, United States * Nix (moon), a moon of Pluto People * Nix (surname), listing people wit ...
and Hydra also have a connection with the spacecraft: the first letters of their names (N and H) are the initials of ''New Horizons''. The moons' discoverers chose these names for this reason, plus Nix and Hydra's relationship to the mythological
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
. In addition to the science equipment, there are several cultural artifacts traveling with the spacecraft. These include a collection of 434,738 names stored on a compact disc, a piece of Scaled Composites's ''
SpaceShipOne SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 3,000 ft/s (900 m/s, 3240 km/h), using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique " feathering ...
'', a "Not Yet Explored" USPS stamp, and a
Flag of the United States The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...
, along with other mementos. About of Clyde Tombaugh's ashes are aboard the spacecraft, to commemorate his discovery of Pluto in 1930. A Florida- state quarter coin, whose design commemorates human exploration, is included, officially as a trim weight. One of the science packages (a dust counter) is named after Venetia Burney, who, as a child, suggested the name "Pluto" after its discovery.


Goal

The goal of the mission is to understand the formation of the Plutonian system, the Kuiper belt, and the transformation of the early Solar System. The spacecraft collected data on the atmospheres, surfaces, interiors, and environments of Pluto and its moons. It will also study other objects in the Kuiper belt. "By way of comparison, ''New Horizons'' gathered 5,000 times as much data at Pluto as Mariner did at the Red Planet." Some of the questions the mission attempts to answer are: What is Pluto's atmosphere made of and how does it behave? What does its surface look like? Are there large geological structures? How do solar wind particles interact with Pluto's atmosphere? Specifically, the mission's science objectives are to: *Map the surface compositions of Pluto and Charon *Characterize the geologies and morphologies of Pluto and Charon *Characterize the neutral
atmosphere of Pluto The atmosphere of Pluto is the tenuous layer of gases surrounding Pluto. It consists mainly of nitrogen (N2), with minor amounts of methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO), all of which are vaporized from their ices on Pluto's surface. It contain ...
and its escape rate *Search for an atmosphere around Charon *Map surface temperatures on Pluto and Charon *Search for rings and additional satellites around Pluto *Conduct similar investigations of one or more Kuiper belt objects


Design and construction


Spacecraft subsystems

The spacecraft is comparable in size and general shape to a
grand piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
and has been compared to a piano glued to a cocktail bar-sized satellite dish. As a point of departure, the team took inspiration from the Ulysses spacecraft, which also carried a
radioisotope thermoelectric generator A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioa ...
(RTG) and dish on a box-in-box structure through the outer Solar System. Many subsystems and components have flight heritage from APL's CONTOUR spacecraft, which in turn had heritage from APL's TIMED spacecraft. ''New Horizons'' body forms a triangle, almost thick. (The ''Pioneers'' have
hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A '' regular hexagon'' has ...
al bodies, whereas the ''Voyagers'', ''Galileo'', and '' Cassini–Huygens'' have decagonal, hollow bodies.) A 7075 aluminium alloy tube forms the main structural column, between the launch vehicle adapter ring at the "rear", and the radio
dish antenna A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola, to direct the radio waves. The most common form is shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or ...
affixed to the "front" flat side. The
titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion i ...
fuel tank is in this tube. The RTG attaches with a 4-sided titanium mount resembling a gray pyramid or stepstool. Titanium provides strength and thermal isolation. The rest of the triangle is primarily sandwich panels of thin aluminum face sheet (less than ) bonded to aluminum honeycomb core. The structure is larger than strictly necessary, with empty space inside. The structure is designed to act as shielding, reducing electronics errors caused by radiation from the RTG. Also, the mass distribution required for a spinning spacecraft demands a wider triangle. The interior structure is painted black to equalize temperature by radiative heat transfer. Overall, the spacecraft is thoroughly blanketed to retain heat. Unlike the ''Pioneers'' and ''Voyagers'', the radio dish is also enclosed in blankets that extend to the body. The heat from the RTG adds warmth to the spacecraft while it is in the outer Solar System. While in the inner Solar System, the spacecraft must prevent overheating, hence electronic activity is limited, power is diverted to shunts with attached radiators, and
louver A louver (American English) or louvre (British English; see spelling differences) is a window blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain and direct sunshine. The angle of the sla ...
s are opened to radiate excess heat. While the spacecraft is cruising inactively in the cold outer Solar System, the louvers are closed, and the shunt regulator reroutes power to electric
heaters A heater is an appliance whose purpose is to generate heat for a building. Heater or Heaters may also refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Central heating, a system used to heat an entire building Devices * Aquarium heater, in fishk ...
.


Propulsion and attitude control

''New Horizons'' has both spin-stabilized (cruise) and three-axis stabilized (science) modes controlled entirely with
hydrazine Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly toxic unless handled in solution as, for example, hydrazine ...
monopropellant. Additional post launch delta-''v'' of over is provided by a internal tank. Helium is used as a pressurant, with an elastomeric diaphragm assisting expulsion. The spacecraft's on-orbit mass including fuel is over on the Jupiter flyby trajectory, but would have been only for the backup direct flight option to Pluto. Significantly, had the backup option been taken, this would have meant less fuel for later Kuiper belt operations. There are 16 thrusters on ''New Horizons'': four and twelve plumbed into redundant branches. The larger thrusters are used primarily for trajectory corrections, and the small ones (previously used on ''Cassini'' and the ''Voyager'' spacecraft) are used primarily for attitude control and spinup/spindown maneuvers. Two star cameras are used to measure the spacecraft attitude. They are mounted on the face of the spacecraft and provide attitude information while in spin-stabilized or 3-axis mode. In between the time of star camera readings, spacecraft orientation is provided by dual redundant miniature inertial measurement units. Each unit contains three solid-state
gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rot ...
s and three
accelerometer An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is acce ...
s. Two Adcole Sun sensors provide attitude determination. One detects the angle to the Sun, whereas the other measures spin rate and clocking.


Power

A cylindrical
radioisotope thermoelectric generator A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioa ...
(RTG) protrudes in the plane of the triangle from one vertex of the triangle. The RTG provided of power at launch, and was predicted to drop approximately every year, decaying to by the time of its encounter with the Plutonian system in 2015 and will decay too far to power the transmitters in the 2030s. There are no onboard batteries since RTG output is predictable, and load transients are handled by a capacitor bank and fast circuit breakers. As of January 2019, the power output of the RTG is about . The RTG, model "
GPHS-RTG GPHS-RTG or general-purpose heat source — radioisotope thermoelectric generator, is a specific design of the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) used on US space missions. The GPHS-RTG was used on ''Ulysses'' (1), ''Galileo'' (2), ...
", was originally a spare from the ''Cassini'' mission. The RTG contains of
plutonium-238 Plutonium-238 (238Pu or Pu-238) is a fissile, radioactive isotope of plutonium that has a half-life of 87.7 years. Plutonium-238 is a very powerful alpha emitter; as alpha particles are easily blocked, this makes the plutonium-238 isotope suit ...
oxide pellets. Each pellet is clad in
iridium Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density o ...
, then encased in a graphite shell. It was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy at the Materials and Fuels Complex, a part of the
Idaho National Laboratory Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one of the national laboratories of the United States Department of Energy and is managed by the Battelle Energy Alliance. While the laboratory does other research, historically it has been involved with nu ...
. The original RTG design called for of plutonium, but a unit less powerful than the original design goal was produced because of delays at the United States Department of Energy, including security activities, that delayed plutonium production. The mission parameters and observation sequence had to be modified for the reduced wattage; still, not all instruments can operate simultaneously. The Department of Energy transferred the space battery program from Ohio to Argonne in 2002 because of security concerns. The amount of radioactive plutonium in the RTG is about one-third the amount on board the Cassini–Huygens probe when it launched in 1997. The Cassini launch had been protested by multiple organizations, due to the risk of such a large amount of plutonium being released into the atmosphere in case of an accident. The United States Department of Energy estimated the chances of a launch accident that would release radiation into the atmosphere at 1 in 350, and monitored the launch because of the inclusion of an RTG on board. It was estimated that a worst-case scenario of total dispersal of on-board plutonium would spread the equivalent radiation of 80% the average annual dosage in North America from background radiation over an area with a radius of .


Flight computer

The spacecraft carries two
computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...
systems: the Command and Data Handling system and the Guidance and Control processor. Each of the two systems is duplicated for redundancy, for a total of four computers. The processor used for its flight computers is the
Mongoose-V The Mongoose-V 32-bit microprocessor for spacecraft onboard computer applications is a radiation-hardened and expanded 10–15 MHz version of the MIPS R3000 CPU. Mongoose-V was developed by Synova of Melbourne, Florida, USA, with support from ...
, a 12 MHz radiation-hardened version of the MIPS R3000
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...
. Multiple redundant clocks and timing routines are implemented in hardware and software to help prevent faults and downtime. To conserve heat and mass, spacecraft and instrument electronics are housed together in IEMs (integrated electronics modules). There are two redundant IEMs. Including other functions such as instrument and radio electronics, each IEM contains 9boards. The software of the probe runs on Nucleus RTOS operating system. There have been two "safing" events, that sent the spacecraft into safe mode: * On March 19, 2007, the Command and Data Handling computer experienced an uncorrectable memory error and rebooted itself, causing the spacecraft to go into safe mode. The craft fully recovered within two days, with some data loss on Jupiter's magnetotail. No impact on the subsequent mission was expected. * On July 4, 2015, there was a CPU safing event triggered by an over-assignment of commanded science operations on the craft's approach to Pluto. Fortunately, the craft was able to recover within two days without major impacts on its mission. NASA scientists therefore reduced the number of scientific operations on the craft to prevent future events, which could happen during the approach with Pluto.


Telecommunications and data handling

Communication with the spacecraft is via X band. The craft had a communication rate of at Jupiter; at Pluto's distance, a rate of approximately per transmitter was expected. Besides the low data rate, Pluto's distance also causes a latency of about 4.5 hours (one-way). The
NASA Deep Space Network The NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) is a worldwide network of American spacecraft communication ground segment facilities, located in the United States (California), Spain (Madrid), and Australia (Canberra), that supports NASA's interplanetary ...
(DSN) dishes are used to relay commands once the spacecraft is beyond Jupiter. The spacecraft uses dual modular redundancy transmitters and receivers, and either right- or left-hand circular polarization. The downlink signal is amplified by dual redundant 12-watt traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) mounted on the body under the dish. The receivers are new, low-power designs. The system can be controlled to power both TWTAs at the same time, and transmit a dual-polarized downlink signal to the DSN that nearly doubles the downlink rate. DSN tests early in the mission with this dual polarization combining technique were successful, and the capability is now considered operational (when the spacecraft power budget permits both TWTAs to be powered). In addition to the high-gain antenna, there are two backup low-gain antennas and a medium-gain dish. The high-gain dish has a
Cassegrain reflector The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, relative to t ...
layout, composite construction, of diameter providing over of gain and a half-power beam width of about a degree. The prime-focus medium-gain antenna, with a aperture and 10° half-power beam width, is mounted to the back of the high-gain antenna's secondary reflector. The forward low-gain antenna is stacked atop the feed of the medium-gain antenna. The aft low-gain antenna is mounted within the launch adapter at the rear of the spacecraft. This antenna was used only for early mission phases near Earth, just after launch and for emergencies if the spacecraft had lost attitude control. ''New Horizons'' recorded scientific instrument data to its solid-state memory buffer at each encounter, then transmitted the data to Earth. Data storage is done on two low-power solid-state recorders (one primary, one backup) holding up to s each. Because of the extreme distance from Pluto and the Kuiper belt, only one buffer load at those encounters can be saved. This is because ''New Horizons'' would require approximately 16 months after leaving the vicinity of Pluto to transmit the buffer load back to Earth. At Pluto's distance, radio signals from the space probe back to Earth took four hours and 25 minutes to traverse 4.7 billion km of space. Part of the reason for the delay between the gathering of and transmission of data is that all of the ''New Horizons'' instrumentation is body-mounted. In order for the cameras to record data, the entire probe must turn, and the one-degree-wide beam of the high-gain antenna was not pointing toward Earth. Previous spacecraft, such as the ''Voyager'' program probes, had a rotatable instrumentation platform (a "scan platform") that could take measurements from virtually any angle without losing radio contact with Earth. ''New Horizons'' was mechanically simplified to save weight, shorten the schedule, and improve reliability during its 15-year lifetime. The ''
Voyager 2 ''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. As a part of the Voyager program, it was launched 16 days before its twin, '' Voyager 1'', ...
'' scan platform jammed at Saturn, and the demands of long time exposures at outer planets led to a change of plans such that the entire probe was rotated to make photos at Uranus and Neptune, similar to how ''New Horizons'' rotated.


Science payload

''New Horizons'' carries seven instruments: three optical instruments, two plasma instruments, a dust sensor and a radio science receiver/radiometer. The instruments are to be used to investigate the global geology, surface composition, surface temperature, atmospheric pressure, atmospheric temperature and escape rate of Pluto and its moons. The rated power is , though not all instruments operate simultaneously. In addition, ''New Horizons'' has an Ultrastable Oscillator subsystem, which may be used to study and test the Pioneer anomaly towards the end of the spacecraft's life.


Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI)

The Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) is a long-focal-length imager designed for high resolution and responsivity at visible wavelengths. The instrument is equipped with a 1024×1024 pixel by 12-bits-per-pixel monochromatic CCD imager giving a resolution of 5 μrad (~1 arcsec). The CCD is chilled far below freezing by a passive radiator on the antisolar face of the spacecraft. This temperature differential requires insulation and isolation from the rest of the structure. The aperture Ritchey–Chretien mirrors and metering structure are made of silicon carbide to boost stiffness, reduce weight and prevent warping at low temperatures. The optical elements sit in a composite light shield and mount with titanium and fiberglass for thermal isolation. Overall mass is , with the optical tube assembly (OTA) weighing about , for one of the largest silicon-carbide telescopes flown at the time (now surpassed by Herschel). For viewing on public web sites the 12-bit per pixel LORRI images are converted to 8-bit per pixel
JPEG JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...
images. These public images do not contain the full
dynamic range Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base ...
of brightness information available from the raw LORRI images files. :,


Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP)

Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) is a toroidal electrostatic analyzer and retarding potential analyzer (RPA), that makes up one of the two instruments comprising ''New Horizons'' Plasma and high-energy particle spectrometer suite (PAM), the other being PEPSSI. SWAP measures particles of up to 6.5keV and, because of the tenuous solar wind at Pluto's distance, the instrument is designed with the largest
aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...
of any such instrument ever flown. :


Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI)

Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI) is a
time of flight Time of flight (ToF) is the measurement of the time taken by an object, particle or wave (be it acoustic, electromagnetic, etc.) to travel a distance through a medium. This information can then be used to measure velocity or path length, or as a w ...
ion and
electron The electron ( or ) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have n ...
sensor that makes up one of the two instruments comprising ''New Horizons'' plasma and high-energy particle spectrometer suite (PAM), the other being SWAP. Unlike SWAP, which measures particles of up to 6.5keV, PEPSSI goes up to 1MeV. The PEPSSI sensor has been designed to measure the mass, energy and distribution of charged particles around Pluto, and is also able to differentiate between
proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
s,
electron The electron ( or ) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have n ...
s, and other
heavy ion High-energy nuclear physics studies the behavior of nuclear matter in energy regimes typical of high-energy physics. The primary focus of this field is the study of heavy-ion collisions, as compared to lighter atoms in other particle accelerator ...
s. :


Alice

''Alice'' is an
ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30  PHz) to 400 nm (750  THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...
imaging spectrometer that is one of two photographic instruments comprising ''New Horizons'' Pluto Exploration Remote Sensing Investigation (PERSI); the other being the ''Ralph'' telescope. It resolves 1,024wavelength bands in the far and extreme ultraviolet (from 50–), over 32view fields. Its goal is to determine the composition of Pluto's atmosphere. This Alice instrument is derived from another Alice aboard ESA's
Rosetta Rosetta or Rashid (; ar, رشيد ' ; french: Rosette  ; cop, ϯⲣⲁϣⲓⲧ ''ti-Rashit'', Ancient Greek: Βολβιτίνη ''Bolbitinē'') is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The R ...
spacecraft. The instrument has a mass of 4.4 kg and draws 4.4 watts of power. Its primary role is to determine the relative concentrations of various elements and isotopes in Pluto's atmosphere. : In August 2018, NASA confirmed, based on results by ''Alice'' on the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft, a " hydrogen wall" at the outer edges of the
Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
that was first detected in 1992 by the two Voyager spacecraft.


Ralph telescope

The Ralph telescope, 75 mm in aperture, is one of two photographic instruments that make up ''New Horizons'' Pluto Exploration Remote Sensing Investigation (PERSI), with the other being the Alice instrument. Ralph has two separate channels: MVIC (Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera), a visible-light CCD imager with broadband and color channels; and LEISA (Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array), a near-
infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of Light, visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from ...
imaging spectrometer. LEISA is derived from a similar instrument on the
Earth Observing-1 Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) is a decommissioned NASA Earth observation satellite created to develop and validate a number of instrument and spacecraft bus breakthrough technologies. It was intended to enable the development of future Earth imaging o ...
spacecraft. Ralph was named after Alice's husband on ''
The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...
'', and was designed after Alice. On June 23, 2017, NASA announced that it has renamed the LEISA instrument to the "Lisa Hardaway Infrared Mapping Spectrometer" in honor of
Lisa Hardaway Lisa Hardaway (1966–2017) was an American aerospace engineer and program manager for an instrument on the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto and Beyond. Among her awards, she was named Engineer of the Year for 2015–2016 by the Colorado American ...
, the Ralph program manager at
Ball Aerospace Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. is an American manufacturer of spacecraft, components and instruments for national defense, civil space and commercial space applications. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ball Corporation ( NYSE: BA ...
, who died in January 2017 at age 50. :


Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (VBSDC)

The
Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter The Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (VBSDC) is a scientific instrument aboard the unmanned '' New Horizons'' space probe that is designed to detect dust impacts in outer space. VBSDC is the first planetary science instrument to be built by st ...
(VBSDC), built by students at the University of Colorado Boulder, is operating periodically to make
dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in ...
measurements. It consists of a detector panel, about , mounted on the anti-solar face of the spacecraft (the ram direction), and an electronics box within the spacecraft. The detector contains fourteen polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) panels, twelve science and two reference, which generate voltage when impacted. Effective collecting area is . No dust counter has operated past the orbit of
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...
; models of dust in the outer Solar System, especially the Kuiper belt, are speculative. The VBSDC is always turned on measuring the masses of the interplanetary and interstellar dust particles (in the range of nano- and picograms) as they collide with the PVDF panels mounted on the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft. The measured data is expected to greatly contribute to the understanding of the dust spectra of the Solar System. The dust spectra can then be compared with those from observations of other stars, giving new clues as to where Earth-like planets can be found in the universe. The dust counter is named for Venetia Burney, who first suggested the name "Pluto" at the age of 11. A thirteen-minute short film about the VBSDC garnered an Emmy Award for student achievement in 2006. :


Radio Science Experiment (REX)

The Radio Science Experiment (REX) used an ultrastable crystal oscillator (essentially a calibrated crystal in a miniature
oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...
) and some additional electronics to conduct radio science investigations using the communications channels. These are small enough to fit on a single card. Because there are two redundant communications subsystems, there are two, identical REX circuit boards. :


Journey to Pluto


Launch

On September 24, 2005, the spacecraft arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on board a C-17 Globemaster III for launch preparations. The launch of ''New Horizons'' was originally scheduled for January 11, 2006, but was initially delayed until January 17, 2006, to allow for
borescope A borescope (occasionally called a boroscope, though this spelling is nonstandard) is an optical instrument designed to assist visual inspection of narrow, difficult-to-reach cavities, consisting of a rigid or flexible tube with an eyepiece or d ...
inspections of the
Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Mart ...
's
kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning " wax", and was re ...
tank. Further delays related to low cloud ceiling conditions downrange, and high winds and technical difficulties—unrelated to the rocket itself—prevented launch for a further two days. The probe finally lifted off from Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
, directly south of
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program n ...
Launch Complex 39, at 19:00 UTC on January 19, 2006. The
Centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...
second stage ignited at 19:04:43 UTC and burned for 5 minutes 25 seconds. It reignited at 19:32 UTC and burned for 9 minutes 47 seconds. The ATK
Star 48 The Star 48 is the largest of a family of solid rocket motors used by many space propulsion and launch vehicle stages. It is used almost exclusively as an upper stage. It was developed primarily by Thiokol Propulsion and is now, after several ...
B third stage ignited at 19:42:37 UTC and burned for 1 minute 28 seconds. Combined, these burns successfully sent the probe on a solar-escape trajectory at . ''New Horizons'' took only nine hours to pass the Moon's orbit. Although there were backup launch opportunities in February 2006 and February 2007, only the first twenty-three days of the 2006 window permitted the Jupiter flyby. Any launch outside that period would have forced the spacecraft to fly a slower trajectory directly to Pluto, delaying its encounter by five to six years. The probe was launched by a
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
Atlas V 551 rocket, with a third stage added to increase the heliocentric (escape) speed. This was the first launch of the Atlas V 551 configuration, which uses five solid rocket boosters, and the first Atlas V with a third stage. Previous flights had used zero, two, or three solid boosters, but never five. The vehicle, AV-010, weighed at lift-off, and had earlier been slightly damaged when
Hurricane Wilma Hurricane Wilma was an extremely intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane which was the most intense storm of its kind and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part o ...
swept across Florida on October 24, 2005. One of the solid rocket boosters was hit by a door. The booster was replaced with an identical unit, rather than inspecting and requalifying the original. The launch was dedicated to the memory of launch conductor Daniel Sarokon, who was described by space program officials as one of the most influential people in the history of space travel.


Inner Solar System


Trajectory corrections

On January 28 and 30, 2006, mission controllers guided the probe through its first
trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete tr ...
-correction maneuver (TCM), which was divided into two parts (TCM-1A and TCM-1B). The total velocity change of these two corrections was about . TCM-1 was accurate enough to permit the cancellation of TCM-2, the second of three originally scheduled corrections. On March 9, 2006, controllers performed TCM-3, the last of three scheduled course corrections. The engines burned for 76 seconds, adjusting the spacecraft's velocity by about . Further trajectory maneuvers were not needed until September 25, 2007 (seven months after the Jupiter flyby), when the engines were fired for 15 minutes and 37 seconds, changing the spacecraft's velocity by , followed by another TCM, almost three years later on June 30, 2010, that lasted 35.6 seconds, when ''New Horizons'' had already reached the halfway point (in time traveled) to Pluto.


In-flight tests and crossing of Mars orbit

During the week of February 20, 2006, controllers conducted initial in-flight tests of three onboard science instruments, the Alice ultraviolet imaging spectrometer, the PEPSSI plasma-sensor, and the LORRI long-range visible-spectrum camera. No scientific measurements or images were taken, but instrument electronics, and in the case of Alice, some electromechanical systems were shown to be functioning correctly. On April 7, 2006, the spacecraft passed the orbit of Mars, moving at roughly away from the Sun at a solar distance of 243 million kilometers.


Asteroid 132524 APL

Because of the need to conserve fuel for possible encounters with Kuiper belt objects subsequent to the Pluto flyby, intentional encounters with objects in the asteroid belt were not planned. After launch, the ''New Horizons'' team scanned the spacecraft's trajectory to determine if any asteroids would, by chance, be close enough for observation. In May 2006 it was discovered that ''New Horizons'' would pass close to the tiny asteroid
132524 APL 132524 APL, provisional designation , is a small background asteroid in the intermediate asteroid belt. It was discovered by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research in May 2002, and imaged by the '' New Horizons'' space probe on its flyby in June 2 ...
on June 13, 2006. Closest approach occurred at 4:05 UTC at a distance of (around one quarter of the average Earth-Moon distance). The asteroid was imaged by Ralph (use of LORRI was not possible because of proximity to the Sun), which gave the team a chance to test Ralph capabilities, and make observations of the asteroid's composition as well as light and phase curves. The asteroid was estimated to be in diameter. The spacecraft successfully tracked the rapidly moving asteroid over June 10–12, 2006.


First Pluto sighting

The first images of Pluto from ''New Horizons'' were acquired September 21–24, 2006, during a test of LORRI. They were released on November 28, 2006. The images, taken from a distance of approximately , confirmed the spacecraft's ability to track distant targets, critical for maneuvering toward Pluto and other Kuiper belt objects.


Jupiter encounter

''New Horizons'' used LORRI to take its first photographs of Jupiter on September 4, 2006, from a distance of . More detailed exploration of the system began in January 2007 with an infrared image of the moon Callisto, as well as several black-and-white images of Jupiter itself. ''New Horizons'' received a gravity assist from Jupiter, with its closest approach at 05:43:40 UTC on February 28, 2007, when it was from Jupiter. The flyby increased ''New Horizons'' speed by , accelerating the probe to a velocity of relative to the Sun and shortening its voyage to Pluto by three years. The flyby was the center of a four-month intensive observation campaign lasting from January to June. Being an ever-changing scientific target, Jupiter has been observed intermittently since the end of the ''
Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
'' mission in September 2003. Knowledge about Jupiter benefited from the fact that ''New Horizons'' instruments were built using the latest technology, especially in the area of cameras, representing a significant improvement over ''Galileo'' cameras, which were modified versions of ''
Voyager Voyager may refer to: Computing and communications * LG Voyager, a mobile phone model manufactured by LG Electronics * NCR Voyager, a computer platform produced by NCR Corporation * Voyager (computer worm), a computer worm affecting Oracle ...
'' cameras, which, in turn, were modified '' Mariner'' cameras. The Jupiter encounter also served as a shakedown and dress rehearsal for the Pluto encounter. Because Jupiter is much closer to Earth than Pluto, the communications link can transmit multiple loadings of the memory buffer; thus the mission returned more data from the Jovian system than it was expected to transmit from Pluto. One of the main goals during the Jupiter encounter was observing its atmospheric conditions and analyzing the structure and composition of its clouds. Heat-induced lightning strikes in the polar regions and "waves" that indicate violent storm activity were observed and measured. The Little Red Spot, spanning up to 70% of Earth's diameter, was imaged from up close for the first time. Recording from different angles and illumination conditions, ''New Horizons'' took detailed images of Jupiter's faint ring system, discovering debris left over from recent collisions within the rings or from other unexplained phenomena. The search for undiscovered moons within the rings showed no results. Travelling through Jupiter's
magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior d ...
, ''New Horizons'' collected valuable particle readings. "Bubbles" of plasma that are thought to be formed from material ejected by the moon Io were noticed in the magnetotail.


Jovian moons

The four largest moons of Jupiter were in poor positions for observation; the necessary path of the gravity-assist maneuver meant that ''New Horizons'' passed millions of kilometers from any of the Galilean moons. Still, its instruments were intended for small, dim targets, so they were scientifically useful on large, distant moons. Emphasis was put on Jupiter's innermost Galilean moon, Io, whose active volcanoes shoot out tons of material into Jupiter's magnetosphere, and further. Out of eleven observed eruptions, three were seen for the first time. That of
Tvashtar Tvashtr ( sa, त्वष्टृ, Tvaṣṭṛ) is a Vedic artisan god or fashioner. He is also mentioned in later literature of Hinduism like the ''Harivamsa''. Sometimes, Tvashtr is identified with another deity named Vishvakarma. In Hindu L ...
reached an altitude of up to . The event gave scientists an unprecedented look into the structure and motion of the rising plume and its subsequent fall back to the surface. Infrared signatures of a further 36 volcanoes were noticed. Callisto's surface was analyzed with LEISA, revealing how lighting and viewing conditions affect infrared spectrum readings of its surface water ice. Minor moons such as Amalthea had their orbit solutions refined. The cameras determined their positions, acting as "reverse optical navigation".


Outer Solar System

After passing Jupiter, ''New Horizons'' spent most of its journey towards Pluto in hibernation mode. Redundant components as well as guidance and control systems were shut down to extend their life cycle, decrease operation costs and free the Deep Space Network for other missions. During hibernation mode, the onboard computer monitored the probe's systems and transmitted a signal back to Earth; a "green" code if everything was functioning as expected or a "red" code if mission control's assistance was needed. The probe was activated for about two months a year so that the instruments could be calibrated and the systems checked. The first hibernation mode cycle started on June 28, 2007, the second cycle began on December 16, 2008, the third cycle on August 27, 2009, and the fourth cycle on August 29, 2014, after a 10-week test. ''New Horizons'' crossed the orbit of Saturn on June 8, 2008, and
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...
on March 18, 2011. After astronomers announced the discovery of two new moons in the Pluto system, Kerberos and Styx, mission planners started contemplating the possibility of the probe running into unseen debris and dust left over from ancient collisions between the moons. A study based on 18 months of computer simulations, Earth-based telescope observations and occultations of the Pluto system revealed that the possibility of a catastrophic collision with debris or dust was less than 0.3% on the probe's scheduled course. If the hazard increased, ''New Horizons'' could have used one of two possible contingency plans, the so-called SHBOTs (Safe Haven by Other Trajectories). Either the probe could have continued on its present trajectory with the antenna facing the incoming particles so the more vital systems would be protected, or it could have positioned its antenna to make a course correction that would take it just 3000 km from the surface of Pluto where it was expected that the atmospheric drag would have cleaned the surrounding space of possible debris. While in hibernation mode in July 2012, ''New Horizons'' started gathering scientific data with SWAP, PEPSSI and VBSDC. Although it was originally planned to activate just the VBSDC, other instruments were powered on in order to collect valuable heliospheric data. Before activating the other two instruments, ground tests were conducted to make sure that the expanded data gathering in this phase of the mission would not limit available energy, memory and fuel in the future and that all systems were functioning during the flyby. The first set of data was transmitted in January 2013 during a three-week activation from hibernation. The command and data handling software was updated to address the problem of computer resets.


Possible Neptune trojan targets

Other possible targets were Neptune trojans. The probe's trajectory to Pluto passed near Neptune's trailing Lagrange point (""), which may host hundreds of bodies in 1:1
resonance Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscil ...
. In late 2013, ''New Horizons'' passed within of the high-inclination L5 Neptune trojan , which was discovered shortly before by the New Horizons KBO Search task, a survey to find additional distant objects for ''New Horizons'' to fly by after its 2015 encounter with Pluto. At that range, would have been bright enough to be detectable by ''New Horizons'' LORRI instrument; however, the ''New Horizons'' team eventually decided that they would not target for observations because the preparations for the Pluto approach took precedence.


Observations of Pluto and Charon 2013–14

Images from July 1 to 3, 2013, by LORRI were the first by the probe to resolve Pluto and Charon as separate objects. On July 14, 2014, mission controllers performed a sixth trajectory-correction maneuver (TCM) since its launch to enable the craft to reach Pluto. Between July 19–24, 2014, ''New Horizons'' LORRI snapped 12 images of Charon revolving around Pluto, covering almost one full rotation at distances ranging from about . In August 2014, astronomers made high-precision measurements of Pluto's location and orbit around the Sun using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array ( ALMA) (an array of radio telescopes located in Chile) to help NASA's ''New Horizons'' spacecraft accurately home in on Pluto. On December 6, 2014, mission controllers sent a signal for the craft to "wake up" from its final Pluto-approach hibernation and begin regular operations. The craft's response that it was "awake" reached Earth on December 7, 2014, at 02:30 UTC.


Pluto approach

Distant-encounter operations at Pluto began on January 4, 2015. On this date, images of the targets with the onboard LORRI imager plus the Ralph telescope were only a few
pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the ...
s in width. Investigators began taking Pluto images and background starfield images to assist mission navigators in the design of course-correcting engine maneuvers that would precisely modify the trajectory of ''New Horizons'' to aim the approach. On February 12, 2015, NASA released new images of Pluto (taken from January 25 to 31) from the approaching probe. ''New Horizons'' was more than away from Pluto when it began taking the photos, which showed Pluto and its largest moon, Charon. The exposure time was too short to see Pluto's smaller, much fainter moons. Investigators compiled a series of images of the moons Nix and Hydra taken from January 27 through February 8, 2015, beginning at a range of . Pluto and Charon appear as a single overexposed object at the center. The right side image has been processed to remove the background starfield. The other two, even smaller moons, Kerberos and Styx were seen on photos taken on April 25. Starting May 11 a hazard search was performed, looking for unknown objects that could be a danger to the spacecraft, such as rings or hithero undiscovered moons, which could then possibly be avoided by a course change. No rings or additional moons were found. Also in regard to the approach phase during January 2015, on August 21, 2012, the team announced that they would spend mission time attempting long-range observations of the Kuiper belt object temporarily designated VNH0004 (now designated ), when the object was at a distance from ''New Horizons'' of . The object would be too distant to resolve surface features or take spectroscopy, but it would be able to make observations that cannot be made from Earth, namely a phase curve and a search for small moons. A second object was planned to be observed in June 2015, and a third in September after the flyby; the team hoped to observe a dozen such objects through 2018. On April 15, 2015, Pluto was imaged showing a possible polar cap.


Software glitch

On July 4, 2015, ''New Horizons'' experienced a software anomaly and went into safe mode, preventing the spacecraft from performing scientific observations until engineers could resolve the problem. On July 5, NASA announced that the problem was determined to be a timing flaw in a command sequence used to prepare the spacecraft for its flyby, and the spacecraft would resume scheduled science operations on July 7. The science observations lost because of the anomaly were judged to have no impact on the mission's main objectives and minimal impact on other objectives. The timing flaw consisted of performing two tasks simultaneously—compressing previously acquired data to release space for more data, and making a second copy of the approach command sequence—that together overloaded the spacecraft's primary computer. After the overload was detected, the spacecraft performed as designed: it switched from the primary computer to the backup computer, entered safe mode, and sent a distress call back to Earth. The distress call was received the afternoon of July 4 and alerted engineers that they needed to contact the spacecraft to get more information and resolve the issue. The resolution was that the problem happened as part of preparations for the approach, and was not expected to happen again because no similar tasks were planned for the remainder of the encounter.


Pluto system encounter

The closest approach of the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft to Pluto occurred at 11:49 UTC on July 14, 2015, at a range of from the surface and from the center of Pluto.
Telemetry Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', "remote", an ...
data confirming a successful flyby and a healthy spacecraft was received on Earth from the vicinity of the Pluto system on July 15, 2015, 00:52:37 UTC, after 22 hours of planned radio silence due to the spacecraft being pointed towards the Pluto system. Mission managers estimated a one in 10,000 chance that debris could have destroyed the probe or its communication-systems during the flyby, preventing it from sending data to Earth. The first details of the encounter were received the next day, but the download of the complete data set through the 2 kbps data downlink took just over 15 months, and analysis of the data continues as of 2021.


Objectives

The mission's science objectives were grouped in three distinct priorities. The "primary objectives" were required. The "secondary objectives" were expected to be met but were not demanded. The "tertiary objectives" were desired. These objectives could have been skipped in favor of the above objectives. An objective to measure any magnetic field of Pluto was dropped, due to mass and budget issues associated with including a
magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...
on the spacecraft. Instead, SWAP and PEPSSI could indirectly detect magnetic fields around Pluto. * Primary objectives (required) ** Characterize the global geology and morphology of Pluto and Charon ** Map chemical compositions of Pluto and Charon surfaces ** Characterize the neutral (non- ionized)
atmosphere of Pluto The atmosphere of Pluto is the tenuous layer of gases surrounding Pluto. It consists mainly of nitrogen (N2), with minor amounts of methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO), all of which are vaporized from their ices on Pluto's surface. It contain ...
and its escape rate * Secondary objectives (expected) ** Characterize the time variability of Pluto's surface and atmosphere ** Image select Pluto and Charon areas in stereo ** Map the terminators (day/night border) of Pluto and Charon with high resolution ** Map the chemical compositions of select Pluto and Charon areas with high resolution ** Characterize Pluto's
ionosphere The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...
(upper layer of the atmosphere) and its interaction with the solar wind ** Search for molecular neutral species such as molecular hydrogen,
hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...
s,
hydrogen cyanide Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on a ...
and other
nitrile In organic chemistry, a nitrile is any organic compound that has a functional group. The prefix '' cyano-'' is used interchangeably with the term ''nitrile'' in industrial literature. Nitriles are found in many useful compounds, including me ...
s in the atmosphere ** Search for any Charon atmosphere ** Determine bolometric Bond albedos for Pluto and Charon ** Map surface temperatures of Pluto and Charon ** Map any additional surfaces of outermost moons:
Nix Nix or NIX may refer to: Places * Nix, Alabama, an unincorporated community, United States * Nix, Texas, a ghost town in southwestern Lampasas County, Texas, United States * Nix (moon), a moon of Pluto People * Nix (surname), listing people wit ...
, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx * Tertiary objectives (desired) ** Characterize the energetic particle environment at Pluto and Charon ** Refine bulk parameters (radii, masses) and orbits of Pluto and Charon ** Search for additional moons and any rings "The New Horizons flyby of the Pluto system was fully successful, meeting and in many cases exceeding, the Pluto objectives set out for it by NASA and the National Academy of Sciences."


Flyby details

''New Horizons'' passed within of Pluto, with this closest approach on July 14, 2015, at 11:50 UTC. ''New Horizons'' had a relative velocity of at its closest approach, and came as close as to Charon. Starting 3.2 days before the closest approach, long-range imaging included the mapping of Pluto and Charon to resolution. This is half the rotation period of the Pluto–Charon system and allowed imaging of all sides of both bodies. Close range imaging was repeated twice per day in order to search for surface changes caused by localized snow fall or surface
cryovolcanism A cryovolcano (sometimes informally called an ice volcano) is a type of volcano that erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane into an extremely cold environment that is at or below their freezing point. The process of formation is known ...
. Because of Pluto's tilt, a portion of the northern hemisphere would be in shadow at all times. During the flyby, engineers expected LORRI to be able to obtain select images with resolution as high as if closest distance were around 12,500 km, and MVIC was expected to obtain four-color global dayside maps at resolution. LORRI and MVIC attempted to overlap their respective coverage areas to form stereo pairs. LEISA obtained hyperspectral near-infrared maps at globally and for selected areas. Meanwhile, Alice characterized the atmosphere, both by emissions of atmospheric molecules ( airglow), and by dimming of background stars as they pass behind Pluto (
occultation An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks ...
). During and after closest approach, SWAP and PEPSSI sampled the high atmosphere and its effects on the solar wind. VBSDC searched for dust, inferring meteoroid collision rates and any invisible rings. REX performed active and passive radio science. The communications dish on Earth measured the disappearance and reappearance of the radio occultation signal as the probe flew by behind Pluto. The results resolved Pluto's diameter (by their timing) and atmospheric density and composition (by their weakening and strengthening pattern). (Alice can perform similar occultations, using sunlight instead of radio beacons.) Previous missions had the spacecraft transmit through the atmosphere, to Earth ("downlink"). Pluto's mass and mass distribution were evaluated by the gravitational tug on the spacecraft. As the spacecraft speeds up and slows down, the radio signal exhibited a
Doppler shift The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who ...
. The Doppler shift was measured by comparison with the ultrastable oscillator in the communications electronics. Reflected sunlight from Charon allowed some imaging observations of the nightside. Backlighting by the Sun gave an opportunity to highlight any rings or atmospheric hazes. REX performed radiometry of the nightside.


Satellite observations

''New Horizons'' best spatial resolution of the small satellites is at Nix, at Hydra, and approximately at Kerberos and Styx. Estimates for the dimensions of these bodies are: Nix at ; Hydra at ; Kerberos at ; and Styx at . Initial predictions envisioned Kerberos as a relatively large and massive object whose dark surface led to it having a faint reflection. This proved to be wrong as images obtained by ''New Horizons'' on July 14 and sent back to Earth in October 2015 revealed that Kerberos was smaller in size, across with a highly reflective surface suggesting the presence of relatively clean water ice similarly to the rest of Pluto's smaller moons.


Post-Pluto events

Soon after the Pluto flyby, in July 2015, ''New Horizons'' reported that the spacecraft was healthy, its flight path was within the margins, and science data of the Pluto–Charon system had been recorded. The spacecraft's immediate task was to begin returning the 6.25 gigabytes of information collected. The free-space path loss at its distance of 4.5 light-hours (3,000,000,000 km) is approximately 303 dB at 7 GHz. Using the high gain antenna and transmitting at full power, the signal from EIRP is +83 dBm, and at this distance the signal reaching Earth is −220 dBm. The received signal level (RSL) using one, un-arrayed Deep Space Network antenna with 72 dBi of forward gain equals −148 dBm. Because of the extremely low RSL, it could only transmit data at 1 to 2
kilobits per second In telecommunications, data-transfer rate is the average number of bits (bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mult ...
. By March 30, 2016, about nine months after the flyby, ''New Horizons'' reached the halfway point of transmitting this data. The transfer was completed on October 25, 2016, at 21:48 UTC, when the last piece of data—part of a Pluto–Charon observation sequence by the Ralph/LEISA imager—was received by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. As of November 2018, at a distance of from the Sun and from 486958 Arrokoth, ''New Horizons'' was heading in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius at relative to the Sun. The brightness of the Sun from the spacecraft was magnitude −18.5. On 17 April 2021, ''New Horizons'' reached a distance of 50 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, while remaining fully operational.


Mission extension

The ''New Horizons'' team requested, and received, a mission extension through 2021 to explore additional Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). Funding was secured on July 1, 2016. During this Kuiper Belt Extended Mission (KEM) the spacecraft performed a close fly-by of 486958 Arrokoth and will conduct more distant observations of an additional two dozen objects, and possibly make a fly-by of another KBO.


Kuiper belt object mission


Target background

Mission planners searched for one or more additional Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) of the order of in diameter as targets for flybys similar to the spacecraft's Plutonian encounter. However, despite the large population of KBOs, many factors limited the number of possible targets. Because the flight path was determined by the Pluto flyby, and the probe only had 33 kilograms of
hydrazine Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly toxic unless handled in solution as, for example, hydrazine ...
propellant remaining, the object to be visited needed to be within a cone of less than a degree's width extending from Pluto. The target also needed to be within 55AU, because beyond 55AU, the communications link becomes too weak, and the RTG power output decays significantly enough to hinder observations. Desirable KBOs are well over in diameter, neutral in color (to contrast with the reddish Pluto), and, if possible, have a moon that imparts a wobble.


KBO Search

In 2011, mission scientists started the New Horizons KBO Search, a dedicated survey for suitable KBOs using ground telescopes. Large ground telescopes with wide-field cameras, notably the twin 6.5-meter Magellan Telescopes in Chile, the 8.2-meter Subaru Observatory in Hawaii and the
Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope The Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) is located near the summit of Mauna Kea mountain on Hawaii's Big Island at an altitude of 4,204 meters (13,793 feet), part of the Mauna Kea Observatory. Operational since 1979, the telescope is a P ...
Pluto-bound probe faces crisis
(nature.com May 20, 2014)
were used to search for potential targets. By participating in a
citizen-science Citizen science (CS) (similar to community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is scientific research conducted with participation from the public (who are sometimes r ...
project called Ice Hunters the public helped to scan telescopic images for possible suitable mission candidates. The ground-based search resulted in the discovery of about 143 KBOs of potential interest, but none of these were close enough to the flight path of ''New Horizons''. Only the
Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...
was deemed likely to find a suitable target in time for a successful KBO mission. On June 16, 2014, time on Hubble was granted for a search. Hubble has a much greater ability to find suitable KBOs than ground telescopes. The probability that a target for ''New Horizons'' would be found was estimated beforehand at about 95%.


Suitable KBOs

On October 15, 2014, it was revealed that Hubble's search had uncovered three potential targets, temporarily designated PT1 ("potential target 1"), PT2 and PT3 by the ''New Horizons'' team. PT1 was eventually chosen as the target and would be named 486958 Arrokoth. All objects had estimated diameters in the range and were too small to be seen by ground telescopes. The targets were at distances from the Sun ranging from 43 to 44 AU, which would put the encounters in the 2018–2019 period. The initial estimated probabilities that these objects were reachable within ''New Horizons'' fuel budget were 100%, 7%, and 97%, respectively. All were members of the "cold" (low-
inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Ea ...
, low- eccentricity)
classical Kuiper belt A classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano ( "QB1-o"), is a low-eccentricity Kuiper belt object (KBO) that orbits beyond Neptune and is not controlled by an orbital resonance with Neptune. Cubewanos have orbits with semi-major a ...
objects, and thus were very different from Pluto. PT1 (given the temporary designation "1110113Y" on the HST web site), the most favorably situated object, had a magnitude of 26.8, is in diameter, and was encountered in January 2019. A course change to reach it required about 35% of ''New Horizons'' available trajectory-adjustment fuel supply. A mission to PT3 was in some ways preferable, in that it is brighter and therefore probably larger than PT1, but the greater fuel requirements to reach it would have left less for maneuvering and unforeseen events. Once sufficient orbital information was provided, the
Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function T ...
gave provisional designations to the three target KBOs: (later 486958 Arrokoth) (PT1), (PT2), and (PT3). By the fall of 2014, a possible fourth target, , had been eliminated by follow-up observations. PT2 was out of the running before the Pluto flyby.


KBO selection

On August 28, 2015, 486958
Arrokoth Arrokoth ( minor-planet designation 486958 Arrokoth; provisional designation ), formerly nicknamed Ultima Thule, is a trans-Neptunian object located in the Kuiper belt. Arrokoth became the farthest and most primitive object in the Solar Syste ...
(then known as and nicknamed ''Ultima Thule'') (PT1) was chosen as the flyby target. The necessary course adjustment was performed with four engine firings between October 22 and November 4, 2015. The flyby occurred on January 1, 2019, at 00:33 UTC.


Observations of other KBOs

Aside from its flyby of 486958 Arrokoth, the extended mission for ''New Horizons'' calls for the spacecraft to conduct observations of, and look for ring systems around, between 25 and 35 different KBOs. In addition, it will continue to study the gas, dust and plasma composition of the Kuiper belt before the mission extension ends in 2021. On November 2, 2015, ''New Horizons'' imaged KBO 15810 Arawn with the LORRI instrument from . This KBO was again imaged by the LORRI instrument on April 7–8, 2016, from a distance of . The new images allowed the science team to further refine the location of 15810 Arawn to within and to determine its rotational period of 5.47 hours. In July 2016, the LORRI camera captured some distant images of
Quaoar Quaoar (50000 Quaoar), provisional designation , is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a region of icy planetesimals beyond Neptune. A non-resonant object ( cubewano), it measures approximately in diameter, about half the diameter of Pluto. Th ...
from ; the oblique view will complement Earth-based observations to study the object's light-scattering properties. On December 5, 2017, when ''New Horizons'' was 40.9 AU from Earth, a calibration image of the Wishing Well cluster marked the most distant image ever taken by a spacecraft (breaking the 27-year record set by ''
Voyager 1 ''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin '' Voyager 2'', ''V ...
''s famous ''
Pale Blue Dot ''Pale Blue Dot'' is a photograph of planet Earth taken on February 14, 1990, by the ''Voyager 1'' space probe from a record distance of about kilometers ( miles, 40.5 AU), as part of that day's ''Family Portrait'' series of images of the ...
''). Two hours later, ''New Horizons'' surpassed its own record, imaging the Kuiper belt objects and from a distance of 0.50 and 0.34 AU, respectively. These were the closest images taken of a Kuiper belt object besides Pluto and Arrokoth . The dwarf planet Haumea was observed from afar by the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft in October 2007, January 2017, and May 2020, from distances of 49 AU, 59 AU, and 63 AU, respectively. ''New Horizons'' has observed the dwarf planets Eris (2020), Haumea (2007, 2017, 2020), Makemake (2007, 2017), and Quaoar (2016, 2017, 2019), as well as the large KBOs Ixion (2016), (2016, 2017, 2019), and (2017, 2018). It also observed Neptune's largest moon
Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus'' ...
(a captured KBO) in 2019.


Encounter with Arrokoth


Objectives

Science objectives of the flyby included characterizing the geology and morphology of
Arrokoth Arrokoth ( minor-planet designation 486958 Arrokoth; provisional designation ), formerly nicknamed Ultima Thule, is a trans-Neptunian object located in the Kuiper belt. Arrokoth became the farthest and most primitive object in the Solar Syste ...
and mapping the surface composition (by searching for ammonia, carbon monoxide, methane, and water ice). Searches will be conducted for orbiting moonlets, a coma, rings and the surrounding environment. Additional objectives include: *Mapping the surface geology to learn how it formed and evolved *Measuring the surface temperature *Mapping the 3-D surface topography and surface composition to learn how it is similar to and different from comets such as 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko and dwarf planets such as Pluto *Searching for any signs of activity, such as a cloud-like coma *Searching for and studying any satellites or rings *Measuring or constraining the mass


Targeting maneuvers

Arrokoth is the first object to be targeted for a flyby that was discovered after the spacecraft was launched. ''New Horizons'' was planned to come within of Arrokoth, three times closer than the spacecraft's earlier encounter with Pluto. Images with a resolution of up to per pixel were expected. The new mission began on October 22, 2015, when ''New Horizons'' carried out the first in a series of four initial targeting maneuvers designed to send it towards Arrokoth. The maneuver, which started at approximately 19:50 UTC and used two of the spacecraft's small hydrazine-fueled thrusters, lasted approximately 16 minutes and changed the spacecraft's trajectory by about . The remaining three targeting maneuvers took place on October 25, October 28, and November 4, 2015.


Approach phase

The craft was brought out of its hibernation at approximately 00:33  UTC on June 5, 2018 (06:12 UTC ERT, Earth-Received Time), in order to prepare for the approach phase. After verifying its health status, the spacecraft transitioned from a spin-stabilized mode to a three-axis-stabilized mode on August 13, 2018. The official approach phase began on August 16, 2018, and continued through December 24, 2018. ''New Horizons'' made its first detection of Arrokoth on August 16, 2018, from a distance of . At that time, Arrokoth was visible at magnitude 20 against a crowded stellar background in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.


Flyby

The Core phase began a week before the encounter and continued for two days after the encounter. The spacecraft flew by the object at a speed of and within . The majority of the science data was collected within 48 hours of the closest approach in a phase called the Inner Core. Closest approach occurred January 1, 2019, at 05:33  UTC SCET at which point the probe was from the Sun. At this distance, the one-way transit time for radio signals between Earth and ''New Horizons'' was six hours. Confirmation that the craft had succeeded in filling its digital recorders occurred when data arrived on Earth ten hours later, at 15:29 UTC.


Data download

After the encounter, preliminary, high-priority data was sent to Earth on January 1 and 2, 2019. On January 9, ''New Horizons'' returned to a spin-stabilized mode to prepare sending the remainder of its data back to Earth. This download was expected to take 20 months at a data rate of 1–2
kilobits per second In telecommunications, data-transfer rate is the average number of bits (bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mult ...
. As of July 2022, approximately 10% of the data was still left to be received.


Post Arrokoth events

In April 2020, ''New Horizons'' was used in conjunction with telescopes on Earth to take pictures of nearby stars Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359; the images from each vantage point – over 4 billion miles (6.4 billion km) apart – were compared to produce "the first demonstration of an easily observable
stellar parallax Stellar parallax is the apparent shift of position of any nearby star (or other object) against the background of distant objects, and a basis for determining (through trigonometry) the distance of the object. Created by the different orbital p ...
." Images taken by the LORRI camera while ''New Horizons'' was 42 to 45 AU from the Sun were used to measure the cosmic optical background, the visible light analog of the
cosmic microwave background In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all spac ...
, in seven high galactic latitude fields. At that distance ''New Horizons'' saw a sky ten times darker than the sky seen by the
Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...
because of the absence of diffuse background sky brightness from the
zodiacal light The zodiacal light (also called false dawn when seen before sunrise) is a faint glow of diffuse sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Brighter around the Sun, it appears in a particularly dark night sky to extend from the Sun's direction ...
in the inner solar system. These measurements indicate that the total amount of light emitted by all galaxies at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths may be lower than previously thought. The spacecraft reached a distance of 50 AUs from the Sun, almost 7.5 billion kilometers (5 billion miles) away, on 17 April 2021 at 12:42 UTC, a feat performed only four times before, by
Pioneer 10 ''Pioneer 10'' (originally designated Pioneer F) is an American space probe, launched in 1972 and weighing , that completed the first mission to the planet Jupiter. Thereafter, ''Pioneer 10'' became the first of five artificial objects to ac ...
,
Pioneer 11 ''Pioneer 11'' (also known as ''Pioneer G'') is a robotic space probe launched by NASA on April 5, 1973, to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar winds, and cosmic rays. It was the first probe to encoun ...
,
Voyager 1 ''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin '' Voyager 2'', ''V ...
, and
Voyager 2 ''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. As a part of the Voyager program, it was launched 16 days before its twin, '' Voyager 1'', ...
. Voyager 1 is the farthest spacecraft from the Sun, more than 152 AUs away when New Horizons reached its landmark in 2021. The support team continued to use the spacecraft in 2021 to study the heliospheric environment (plasma, dust and gas) and to study other Kuiper Belt objects.


Plans

After the spacecraft passed Arrokoth, the instruments continue to have enough power to be operational until the 2030s. Team leader Alan Stern stated there is potential for a third flyby in the 2020s at the outer edges of the Kuiper belt. This depends on a suitable Kuiper belt object being found or confirmed close enough to the spacecraft's current trajectory. Since May 2020, the New Horizons team has been using time on the
Subaru Telescope is the telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, located at the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii. It is named after the open star cluster known in English as the Pleiades. It had the largest monolithic primary mirror in t ...
to look for suitable candidates within the spacecraft's proximity. As of November 2020, none have been found close enough to the trajectory of New Horizons for it to be able to make a close flyby with its remaining fuel. ''New Horizons'' may also take a picture of Earth from its distance in the Kuiper belt, but only after completing all planned KBO flybys. This is because pointing a camera towards Earth could cause the camera to be damaged by sunlight, as none of ''New Horizons cameras have an active shutter mechanism.


Speed

''New Horizons'' has been called "the fastest spacecraft ever launched" because it left Earth at . It is also the first spacecraft launched directly into a solar escape trajectory, which requires an approximate speed while near Earth of ,To escape the Sun the spacecraft needs a speed relative to the Sun of the square root of 2 times the speed of the Earth (29.78 km/s), or 42.1 km/s. Relative to the Earth this is just 12.3 km/s. But the kinetic energy when near the surface of the Earth must include the energy to exit the gravity well of the Earth, which requires a speed of about 11 km/s. The total speed needed is the square root of the sum of the squares of these two speeds. plus additional delta-''v'' to cover air and gravity drag, all to be provided by the launch vehicle. However, it is not the fastest spacecraft to leave the Solar System. , this record is held by ''Voyager 1'', traveling at relative to the Sun. ''Voyager 1'' attained greater hyperbolic excess velocity than ''New Horizons'' due to gravity assists by Jupiter and Saturn. When ''New Horizons'' reaches the distance of , it will be travelling at about , around slower than ''Voyager 1'' at that distance. The Parker Solar Probe can also be measured as the fastest object, because of its orbital speed relative to the Sun at perihelion: . Because it remains in solar orbit, its specific orbital energy relative to the Sun is lower than ''New Horizons'' and other artificial objects escaping the Solar System. ''New Horizons'' Star 48B third stage is also on a hyperbolic escape trajectory from the Solar System, and reached Jupiter before the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft; it was expected to cross Pluto's orbit on October 15, 2015. Because it was not in controlled flight, it did not receive the correct gravity assist, and passed within of Pluto. The
Centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...
second stage did not achieve solar escape velocity, and remains in a heliocentric orbit.


Gallery


Images of the launch


Videos


Timeline


Preparation phase

* January 8, 2001: Proposal team meets face-to-face for the first time at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. * February 5, 2001: ''New Horizons'' name chosen. * April 6, 2001: ''New Horizons'' proposal submitted to NASA. It was one of five proposals submitted, which were later narrowed to two for Phase A study: POSSE (Pluto and Outer Solar System Explorer) and ''New Horizons''. * November 29, 2001: ''New Horizons'' proposal selected by NASA. Started Phase B study. * March 2002: Budget zeroed by Bush administration, later overridden. * June 13, 2005: Spacecraft departed Applied Physics Laboratory for final testing. It undergoes final testing at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). * September 24, 2005: Spacecraft shipped to
Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type = Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...
. It was moved through
Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint Ba ...
aboard a C-17 Globemaster III
cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger a ...
. * December 17, 2005: Spacecraft ready for in rocket positioning. Transported from Hazardous Servicing Facility to Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41. * January 11, 2006: Primary launch window opened. The launch was delayed for further testing. * January 16, 2006: Rocket moved onto launch pad.
Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Mart ...
launcher, serial number AV-010, rolled out onto pad. * January 17, 2006: Launch delayed. First day launch attempts scrubbed because of unacceptable weather conditions (high winds). * January 18, 2006: Launch delayed again. Second launch attempt scrubbed because of morning power outage at the Applied Physics Laboratory.


Launch phase

* January 19, 2006: Successful launch at 19:00 UTC after a brief delay due to cloud cover.


Jupiter pre-encounter phase

* April 7, 2006: The probe passed
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...
' orbit 1.5 AU from Earth. * June 13, 2006: Flyby of asteroid
132524 APL 132524 APL, provisional designation , is a small background asteroid in the intermediate asteroid belt. It was discovered by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research in May 2002, and imaged by the '' New Horizons'' space probe on its flyby in June 2 ...
. The probe passed closest to the asteroid 132524 APL in the Asteroid Belt at about 101,867 km at 04:05 UTC. Pictures were taken. * November 28, 2006: First image of Pluto. The image of Pluto was taken from a great distance.


Jupiter encounter phase

* January 10, 2007: Navigation exercise near
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
. Long-distance observations of Jupiter's outer moon Callirrhoe as a navigation exercise. * February 28, 2007: Jupiter flyby. Closest approach occurred at 05:43:40 UTC at 2.305 million km, 21.219 km/s.


Pluto pre-encounter phase

* June 8, 2008: The probe passed Saturn's orbit 9.5 AU from Earth. * December 29, 2009: The probe becomes closer to Pluto than to Earth. Pluto was then 32.7 AU from Earth, and the probe was 16.4 AU from Earth. * February 25, 2010: New Horizons completed , half the total travel distance of . * March 18, 2011: The probe passes
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...
' orbit. This is the fourth planetary orbit the spacecraft crossed since its start. ''New Horizons'' reached Uranus's orbit at 22:00 UTC. * December 2, 2011: ''New Horizons'' draws closer to Pluto than any other spacecraft has ever been. Previously, ''
Voyager 1 ''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin '' Voyager 2'', ''V ...
'' held the record for the closest approach. (~10.58 AU) * February 11, 2012: ''New Horizons'' reaches the distance of 10 AU from the Pluto system, at around 4:55 UTC. * July 1, 2013: ''New Horizons'' captures its first image of Charon. Charon is clearly separated from Pluto using the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). * October 25, 2013: ''New Horizons'' reaches the distance of 5 AU from the Pluto system. * July 10, 2014: Photos of Neptune and
Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus'' ...
from about 4 billion km away. * July 20, 2014: Photos of Pluto and Charon. Images obtained showing both bodies orbiting each other, distance 2.8 AU. * August 25, 2014: The probe passes Neptune's orbit. This was the fifth planetary orbit crossed. * December 7, 2014: ''New Horizons'' awakes from hibernation. NASA's Deep Sky Network station at Tidbinbilla, Australia received a signal confirming that it successfully awoke from hibernation. * January 2015: Observation of Kuiper belt object . Distant observations from a distance of roughly 75 million km (~0.5 AU) * January 15, 2015: Start of Pluto observations. ''New Horizons'' is now close enough to Pluto and begins observing the system. * March 10–11, 2015: ''New Horizons'' reaches a distance of 1 AU from the Pluto system. * March 20, 2015: NASA invites the general public to suggest names for surface features that may be discovered on Pluto and Charon. * May 15, 2015: Images exceed best
Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...
resolution.


Pluto science phase

* July 14, 2015: Flyby of the Pluto system:
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...
, Charon, Hydra,
Nix Nix or NIX may refer to: Places * Nix, Alabama, an unincorporated community, United States * Nix, Texas, a ghost town in southwestern Lampasas County, Texas, United States * Nix (moon), a moon of Pluto People * Nix (surname), listing people wit ...
, Kerberos and Styx.
Flyby of Pluto around 11:49:57 UTC at 12,500 km, 13.78 km/s.
Pluto is 32.9 AU from Sun.
Flyby of Charon around 12:03:50 UTC at 28,858 km, 13.87 km/s. * July 14, 2015 to October 25, 2016: Transmission of collected data sent back to Earth, and ongoing science discovery based on the observations. The
bit rate In telecommunications and computing, bit rate (bitrate or as a variable ''R'') is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. The bit rate is expressed in the unit bit per second (symbol: bit/s), often in conjunction ...
of the downlink is limited to 1–2  kb/s, so it took until October 25, 2016, to transmit all the data.


Arrokoth pre-encounter phase

* October 22 – November 4, 2015: Trajectory correction maneuver. A course adjustment for the January 2019 flyby of Arrokoth was performed in a series of four thruster firings of 22 minutes each. * November 2, 2015: Observation of KBO 15810 Arawn. Long-range observations from a distance of , the closest ever for any Trans-Neptunian Object other than Pluto and 486958 Arrokoth. More images were taken on April 7–8, 2016, at a range of as well. * July 13–14, 2016: Observation of KBO 50000 Quaoar. Long-range observations from a distance of gives mission scientists a different perspective in order to study the light-scattering properties of Quaoar's surface. * February 1, 2017: Trajectory correction maneuver. A small course adjustment towards the January 2019 flyby of Arrokoth was performed with a 44-second thruster firing. * March 12, 2017: Arrokoth's orbit is deemed to be sufficiently well-resolved that it is formally catalogued as minor planet #486,958 and announced as such via Minor Planet Circular 103886. From now until its naming in November 2019, the object's official designation is to be . * 2017–2020: Observations of Kuiper belt objects (KBOs). The probe will have opportunities to perform observations of 10 to 20 KBOs visible from the spacecraft's trajectory after the Pluto system flyby. Heliosphere data collection is expected to begin. * December 9, 2017: Trajectory correction maneuver. This delays the arrival at Arrokoth by a few hours, optimizing coverage by ground-based radio telescopes. * December 23, 2017 – June 4, 2018: Final hibernation period before the (KBO) Arrokoth encounter. * August 2018 – March 2019: Distant observations of at least a dozen distant KBOs. Recovered by
Subaru Telescope is the telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, located at the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii. It is named after the open star cluster known in English as the Pleiades. It had the largest monolithic primary mirror in t ...
in 2014–2017, enabling ''New Horizons'' observations * August 13, 2018: Switch from
spin stabilization Spin stabilization is the method of stabilizing a satellite or launch vehicle by means of spin, i.e. rotation along the longitudinal axis. The concept originates from ballistics, where the spin is commonly obtain by means of rifling. For most sate ...
to 3-axis stabilization. * August 16, 2018 – December 24, 2018: Approach phase. Optical navigation, search for hazardous material around Arrokoth * August 16, 2018: First detection of Kuiper belt object Arrokoth * October 4, 2018 – December 2, 2018: Opportunities for trajectory correction maneuvers. Maneuvers scheduled for October 4 and November 20, with backups on October 23 and December 2, respectively


Arrokoth science phase and beyond

* January 1, 2019: Flyby of Arrokoth, then nicknamed Ultima Thule. The flyby occurred at 05:33  UTC, and is the outermost close encounter of any Solar System object. * January 9, 2019: Switch from 3-axis stabilization to
spin stabilization Spin stabilization is the method of stabilizing a satellite or launch vehicle by means of spin, i.e. rotation along the longitudinal axis. The concept originates from ballistics, where the spin is commonly obtain by means of rifling. For most sate ...
. This ended the Arrokoth flyby, marking the beginning of the downlink phase. * 2019–2020: Downlink of data from the Arrokoth flyby. Predicted to take approximately 20 months. * November 12, 2019: The object previously known by the
provisional designation Provisional designation in astronomy is the naming convention applied to astronomical objects immediately following their discovery. The provisional designation is usually superseded by a permanent designation once a reliable orbit has been calc ...
of (later numbered 486958 and nicknamed Ultima Thule) was officially named Arrokoth. * April 22–23, 2020: Stellar distance measurements to both Proxima Centauri, and Wolf 359 using stereoscopic images from New Horizons and Earth-based telescopes for usable parallax observation.''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'
Davide Castelvecchi (11 June 2020) Pluto probe offers eye-popping view of neighbouring star Proxima Centauri
doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01699-6
* April 15, 2021: New Horizons reaches 50 AU from the Sun, becoming the fifth spacecraft to reach the milestone. * April 30, 2021: End of the first extended mission. * May 26, 2022: "NASA’s New Horizons mission’s second extended mission proposal was approved." This two-year mission "will make distant observations of Uranus and Neptune map the very faint 'cosmic background' in visible and ultraviolet (UV) light nd useits instruments to understand the motions of charged particles as they interact with the solar wind, and to understand our heliosphere's large-scale structure." * 2020s: The probe may be able to fly by a third KBO. The probe approached Arrokoth along its rotational axis, which simplified trajectory correction maneuvers, saving fuel that could be used to target another KBO. After the flyby, the spacecraft was left with of fuel. * Mid to late 2030s: Expected end of the mission, based on RTG decay. Heliosphere data collection expected to be intermittent if instrument power sharing is required.


Post-mission phase

* 2038: ''New Horizons'' will be 100 AU from the Sun. If still functioning, the probe will explore the outer heliosphere and interstellar space along with the Voyager spacecraft.


See also

* 2006 in spaceflight *
Exploration of Pluto The exploration of Pluto began with the arrival of the ''New Horizons'' probe in July 2015, though proposals for such a mission had been studied for many decades. There are no plans as yet for a follow-up mission, though follow-up concepts have ...
*
List of artificial objects leaving the Solar System The artificial objects leaving the Solar System are all space probes and the upper stages of their launch vehicles, all launched by NASA. Three of the probes, '' Voyager 1'', '' Voyager 2'', and '' New Horizons'' are still functioning and are ...
* List of missions to the outer planets * List of ''New Horizons'' topics * Mariner Mark II, a planned family of NASA spacecraft including a Pluto mission * '' New Horizons 2'', a proposed trans-Neptunian object flyby mission * ''
Pioneer 10 ''Pioneer 10'' (originally designated Pioneer F) is an American space probe, launched in 1972 and weighing , that completed the first mission to the planet Jupiter. Thereafter, ''Pioneer 10'' became the first of five artificial objects to ac ...
'' * ''
Pioneer 11 ''Pioneer 11'' (also known as ''Pioneer G'') is a robotic space probe launched by NASA on April 5, 1973, to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, solar winds, and cosmic rays. It was the first probe to encoun ...
'' * '' Pluto Kuiper Express'', a cancelled NASA Pluto flyby mission * '' TAU'', a proposed mission to fly by Pluto * Timeline of Solar System exploration * ''
Voyager 1 ''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin '' Voyager 2'', ''V ...
'' * ''
Voyager 2 ''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. As a part of the Voyager program, it was launched 16 days before its twin, '' Voyager 1'', ...
''


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links


''New Horizons'' website
by NASA
''New Horizons'' website
by the Applied Physics Laboratory
''New Horizons'' profile
by NASA's Planetary Science Division
''New Horizons'' profile
by the National Space Science Data Center
''New Horizons'' Flyby
of ''Ultima Thule'' – Best Places to Follow Future News.
''New Horizons'' Flyby
– Musical Tribute by astrophysicist Brian May (who consulted on the projectNASA Gets Some Help From Guitarist Brian May On Its New Horizons Probe
, NPR, aired January 2, 2019.
) and the band
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
.
''New Horizons'' Mission Archive
at the NASA Planetary Data System, Small Bodies Node
''New Horizons: Kuiper Belt Extended Mission (KEM)'' Mission Archive
at the NASA Planetary Data System, Small Bodies Node {{Authority control NASA space probes New Frontiers program Missions to Pluto Missions to Jupiter Missions to minor planets Radio frequency propagation Spacecraft escaping the Solar System Space probes launched in 2006 Articles containing video clips Spacecraft launched by Atlas rockets Nuclear-powered robots