New Horizons Mission Update Thread (Part Two)

CalliArcale · Aug 2, 2007

Part One breached the post limit, so here's the new thread to continue the discussion. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff." -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

3488 · Aug 2, 2007

Hi CalliArcale. It is a good time for one of these. Position of New Horizons on: Thursday 2nd August 2007 @ 9:00 PM GMT. Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

jmilsom · Oct 3, 2007

Hi All, A fair bit has been happening with New Horizons recently, which is now approximately 7.5 AU out or halfway between Jupiter and Saturn. The latest PIs Perspective outlines the mejor events and accomplishments of the past two months. New Horizons . These include: - dealing with a spacecraft prime command and data handling reset on August 4. - planning and initiating the first annual spacecraft checkout (ACO-1), which runs from August 16 to November 16 - conducting the first trajectory correction since March 2006 - another will not be needed for 3 to 6 years! - according to the report, after much analysis of alternatives, a final decision on the Pluto aim point closest-approach distance has been reached. This decision needs to be ratified by the entire science team in mid-October and will be revealed to us plutophiles and NH1 fans shortly thereafter. Read the full report HERE Mission elapsed time: Days 622 Hours 04 Minutes 34 Time since Jupiter closest approach Days 217 Hours 17 Minutes 50 Pluto closest approach!!!! Days 2840 Hours 12 Minutes 24/safety_wrapper> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

MeteorWayne · Oct 3, 2007

BTW, thanx for the update jmilson!! And from the PI perepective "Keep an eye out for a Jupiter results press conference from the American Astronomical Societyâ€™s Division of Planetary Sciences meeting on Oct. 9, followed by a special issue of Science magazine that week with a series of technical reports (and the cover itself) about the significant findings already gleaned from our Jupiter encounter results. " MW <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id. I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function </div>

3488 · Oct 3, 2007

I wonder if the RALPH / LORRI distant imaging of Uranus, Neptune & Pluto are going to reveal anything new at this stage. AFAIK, about now the Saturn orbiting Cassini spacecraft will also carry out Pluto phase light curve observations, using the narrow angle camera in conjuction with the New Horizon's LORRI. This will be the second time Cassini has been used in conjuction with another interplanetary craft, the first with Galileo back in 2001, for combined Jupiter observations during Cassini's Jupiter swing by. Now its Pluto with New Horizons. Will be worth checking the Cassini site soon too. Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

alokmohan · Oct 5, 2007

Long live Cassini.

3488 · Oct 5, 2007

I second your statement alokmohan. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Looks like a very interesting extended mission is being planned, so it will be Long Live Cassini. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> Cassini being used in conjunction with New Horizons to carry out further science, is just wonderful. NASA / JPL / JHU, are so good at this sort of thing. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

docm · Oct 10, 2007

NASA NH site link.... New Scientist link...... NH Jupiter highlights â€¢ NH found giant blobs of charged particles moving down the length of Jupiter's magnetotail, a 500 million km stream of charged particles blown away from Jupiter by the solar wind. â€¢ Jupiter's tiniest moons have been been eroded away by micrometeoroids. â€¢ The first movies of a plume spewing from a volcano on Jupiter's moon Io, and the discovery of a new 240-kilometre-long lava flow â€“ the longest seen since 1979 â€“ from another volcano on the moon â€¢ The first observations of lightning near Jupiter's poles â€¢ Observations of aurorae in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Io â€¢ The discovery that clouds near Jupiter's Great Red Spot have thinned since the Galileo and Cassini spacecraft observed the region in 1996 and 2000, respectively Alan Stern, the mission's chief scientist and head of science at NASA, says the successful observations at Jupiter bode well for the probe's 2015 encounter with Pluto. "If Jupiter is any guide, then we'll have a home run at Pluto," <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

3488 · Oct 10, 2007

Hi docm, Great isn't it?? <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> ? <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" />? <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> . Yesterday I put a truck load of links on the other New Horizons thread, devoted to the Jupiter encounter, back in February. The erosion of the smaller moons, particularly Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea & Thebe the four closest in to Jupiter, inside Io's orbit, was suspected when the Galileo spacecraft noticed 'bright flashes' close to Amalthea in November 2002 (whilst no images were taken during the A34 encounter, the star tracker noticed up to nine 'objects' close by). These flashes, are likely boulders or clumps that have been knocked off Amalthea, due to impacts. Also Amalthea's density was found to be very low, barely above that of Water Ice. Amalthea itself is not thought to be composed of water ice (though there is likely to be some present) meaning that Amalthea is a rubble pile held together by gravity (the same situation as Main Belt Asteroid 253 Mathilde). New Horizons data of the ring clumps, one of which close to 60 KM sized innermost Jovian moon Metis, seems to confirm that idea. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> The polar lightning, does confirm IMO that the violent weather in Jupiter's atmosphere IS internally driven, with little or no input from sunlight involved. The polar lightning appears to be over 1,000 times more powerful than the most powerful discharges in terrestrial thunderstorms or approx the same as lightning in Saturn's & Neptune's thunderstorms. Some Jovian lightning seen elsewhere top 20,000 times the energy of Earth's most power <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

3488 · Nov 22, 2007

PI Perspective: Tuesday 20th November 2007. Looks like New Horizons is going to pass by Nix pretty closely, Hydra will be quite a long way off. Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

alokmohan · Nov 23, 2007

Thaks 3488.

MeteorWayne · Nov 23, 2007

Great update, Andrew. Thanx for picking up on it while we were eating and burping <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id. I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function </div>

3488 · Nov 23, 2007

Hi MeteorWayne, I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. By sheer luck Nix is more or less adjacent to New Horizons inbound trajectory. What luck eh??? <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> Looks like New Horizons will get high resolution images of this small Hadean moon, really this will be a three body encounter. Pluto, Charon & Nix. Hydra, appears to be near enough on the opposite side of the orbit, but the LORRI camera will still show the shape & some surface features on Hydra. Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

h2ouniverse · Nov 23, 2007

in reply to ------this will be a three body encounter------ I hope there will be one or two other ones in the extension mission! (otherwise, we will be nixed)

3488 · Nov 23, 2007

Hi Joel, Of course, I hope there will be further KBO encounters post Pluto. The fact remains, Nix is close to New Horizons inbound trajectory, so talk about sheer luck. I would not be surprised at all, if Pluto turns out to have more, but smaller moons yet. We'll see. Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

h2ouniverse · Nov 24, 2007

yes, pluto plus que moins! (pathetic frenglish pun intended) . We will be de-hydra-ted but at least nix-ed... Apologies.

jmilsom · Jan 10, 2008

There is a new podcast at the mission site, which outlines the steps being taken to put NH1 into its first long term hibernation. http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/gallery/videos/podcast.php Mission elapsed time: Days 721 Hours 06 Minutes 16 Time since Jupiter closest approach Days 316 Hours 19 Minutes 32 Pluto closest approach!!!! Days 2741 Hours 10 Minutes 42/safety_wrapper> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

brellis · Jan 10, 2008

yes, pluto plus que moins! (pathetic frenglish pun intended) . That was mighty l'eau. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> I'm a recovering optimist - things could be better. </div>

h2ouniverse · Jan 11, 2008

Let's hope the hibernation proc goes well. Operation costs are more and more a factor when deciding missions. Ability to get a reliable hibernation for long cruises is key to having more missions!

jmilsom · Jan 22, 2008

Can anyone believe that it is already two years since the launch? In the latest PIs perspective, Alan Stern sums up achievements in 2007 and looks to 2008. The craft is nearing 9 AU and by this time next year will be between 12 and 13 AU. The NH1 will be in hibernation for most of 2008. There will be short wakeups in May and December to re-point the high-gain antenna toward Earth and to conduct other maintenance activities. There will also be a second active checkout from September through to early November with many kinds of spacecraft and instrument activities. Full PIs Perspective HERE Mission elapsed time: Days 733 Hours 04 Minutes 30 Time since Jupiter closest approach Days 328 Hours 17 Minutes 46 Pluto closest approach!!!! Days 2729 Hours 12 Minutes 28/safety_wrapper> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

h2ouniverse · Jan 23, 2008

Indeed. Means that it is going to reach Saturn's orbit soon. And Uranian orbit only 5 years after launch (wow). How frustrating it is that an equivalent mission (NH2 e.g.) wouldn't have been launched to fly by Uranus... Or even orbit! (5 years for a fly-by = /> less than 10 years for an orbiter with classical orbital capture!, no need for aerocapture - sigh) Best regards.

3488 · Jan 23, 2008

I think it will still happen Joel, if not New Horizons 2, someone will do it eventually. The scientific case is there & for Neptune too. Shame though that for Uranus, the equinox has already passed, but at least the other hemispheres will be facing the Sun, than as was for Voyager 2, so global coverage will be more complete. It looks like New Horizons is not doing much this year. We know that New Horizons works very well, the Jupiter system encounter last February was ample proof of that. Perhaps very distant mug shots of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto & Eris will be doable with the LORRI?? Pluto & Eris, light curves, etc may be doable??? Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

h2ouniverse · Jan 23, 2008

Eris is at 120Â° from Pluto, so, LORRI is further from Eris than Hubble ST is... If we can't get the probes to KB/IOC in the coming decades, I hope that at least the huge telescopes in the making (for exoplanets) will help picture the dwarves...

h2ouniverse · Jan 23, 2008

Btw I was wondering which target they would pick after Pluto, for NH1 extended mission. The point is that NH will cross the classical Belt in 2019 at a point where most objects were located towards the galactic center in years 1995-2005. And so where most of them escaped detection until now. That corresponds to a big hole in the Kupier Belt longitude-wise (pure observational bias!). They may discover the target after 2015, when they will gradually get out from Milky Way-saturated background.

3488 · Jan 23, 2008

Hi Joel, I goofed up here again. I meant Ixion & Quaoar, as both will be 'only' about 15 AU away, post Pluto encounter. Eris & moon Dysnomia are much too far away, approx 107 AU from Pluto (Eris is further from Pluto than from Earth). I do hope something will be found. Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before". Linda Morabito on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.http://www.launchphotography.com/ http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearthhttp://web.me.com/meridianijournal </div>

New Horizons Mission Update Thread (Part Two)

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