New Horizons Third Stage

[Planet_Lubber]

I heard that the New Horizons separated third stage booster is on a hyperbolic trajectory that will leave the solar system alongside the main NH payload. Along with the 2 Voyagers and 2 Pioneers, that makes 6 manmade objects leaving the SS. Does anyone know if there are any others? Did the Voyager or Pioneer missions also have booster tanks that went hyperbolic? Any other missions? Thanks!
WH

 

[MeteorWayne]

Welcome to Space.com!!

Hmmm, that information is hard to find. I'm looking...

 

[gunsandrockets]

I heard that the New Horizons separated third stage booster is on a hyperbolic trajectory that will leave the solar system alongside the main NH payload. Along with the 2 Voyagers and 2 Pioneers, that makes 6 manmade objects leaving the SS. Does anyone know if there are any others? Did the Voyager or Pioneer missions also have booster tanks that went hyperbolic? Any other missions? Thanks!
WH

Didn't those mission make use of gravity-assist flybys of Jupiter? If so then the rockets used (most likely some type of Centaur) probably aren't leaving the Solar System.

 

[Planet_Lubber]

I heard that the New Horizons separated third stage booster is on a hyperbolic trajectory that will leave the solar system alongside the main NH payload. Along with the 2 Voyagers and 2 Pioneers, that makes 6 manmade objects leaving the SS. Does anyone know if there are any others? Did the Voyager or Pioneer missions also have booster tanks that went hyperbolic? Any other missions? Thanks!
WH

Didn't those mission make use of gravity-assist flybys of Jupiter? If so then the rockets used (most likely some type of Centaur) probably aren't leaving the Solar System.

The third stage is a Star 48 rocket motor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_48
It actually separated from the main spacecraft before the Jupiter flyby, but it got a gravity assist out of the deal anyway. It will cross Pluto orbit before the main spacecraft.

I found an earlier thread othat touches on this topic:
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/lofi ... t2079.html
Someone asked the same question I did, but nobody answered it. It seems that empty booster tanks leaving the Solar System are not too interesting.

This page
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=19382
has info on the Star 48 but there doesn't seem to be a corresponding page on the main vehicle.

PL

 

[MeteorWayne]

Actually, it won't reach Pluto's orbit first. From the SDC article referenced in the Wiki page:

The spacecraft is expected to reach Pluto for its flyby on July 14, 2015. The Star-48 rocket engine will reach Pluto's orbit, but not the planet itself, on Oct. 15, 2015.

It beat it to Jupiter, but will not beat it to Pluto.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060126_newhorizons_update.html

Still, great research!

 

[aremisasling]

I presume, as a non-physicist (though I'm married to one, but I don't think that counts), that most rocket stages end up short of a hyperbolic trajectory due to the multiple fine-tuned burns necessary for the probes themselves to take full advantage of the gravity assist. Some stages may never even get a measureable boost, especially now that we're starting to employ more long-burning ion engines in probes. I think Dawn's the only active one at the moment, but it seems to be a strong future propulsion alternative. Additionally, I expect any probes doing mutliple gravity assists would end up leaving their stages way behind. Threading the needle unpowered once is a bit of a feat, repeating that with productive results would be pretty improbable.

The gas giants certainly present a special case given their tremendous size and gravity. You may need to hit a sweet spot to get the most bang for your buck, but you don't have to get all that close for Jupiter to give you a good fling in one direction or another. Still, the further off of target you are, the more deviant the resulting trajectory.

Aremis

starshipprivateenterprise.blogspot.com

 

[MeteorWayne]

Another thread bites the dust.

Just a note to all who post here. The subject of this thread is the New Horizons's 3rd stage. Please stick reasonobly close to the topic.

Thanx

Meteor Wayne

 

[shuttle_guy]

I heard that the New Horizons separated third stage booster is on a hyperbolic trajectory that will leave the solar system alongside the main NH payload. Along with the 2 Voyagers and 2 Pioneers, that makes 6 manmade objects leaving the SS. Does anyone know if there are any others? Did the Voyager or Pioneer missions also have booster tanks that went hyperbolic? Any other missions? Thanks!
WH

Didn't those mission make use of gravity-assist flybys of Jupiter? If so then the rockets used (most likely some type of Centaur) probably aren't leaving the Solar System.

The spacecraft and the final booster were on the same trajectory thus they also got essentially the gravity assists and may also be on their way out.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Yeah, except that the NH craft had a number of TCMs before encountering Jupiter, so without actual research, we don't know how different the paths were.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Here's what I've found so far...

January 30, 2006
For Immediate Release

Media Contacts
M. Buckley
JHU Applied Physics Laboratory
Phone: 240-228-7536 or 443-778-7536





New Horizons Successfully Performs First Post-Launch Maneuvers

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has successfully carried out its first post-launch maneuvers, conducting two small thruster firings that slightly adjusted its path toward the outer solar system and the first close-up study of distant planet Pluto.

Carried out today and Jan. 28 by mission operators at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., the maneuvers refined the spacecraft’s trajectory toward a gravity assist-flyby of Jupiter in February 2007. The gravity boost from Jupiter will put New Horizons on course for a close flyby of Pluto and its moons on July 14, 2015.

“Everything performed as planned,” says New Horizons Project Manager Glen Fountain, of APL. “New Horizons has to fly through a precise aim point near Jupiter to get to Pluto on time and on target, and these maneuvers are putting us on the right path.”

Conducted with a pair of hydrazine-fueled thrusters on the spacecraft’s lower deck, the maneuvers Saturday and today lasted about five and 12 minutes, respectively, providing a total change in velocity of just under 18 meters per second (about 40 miles per hour). The spacecraft was nearly 11.9 million kilometers (7.4 million miles) from Earth when it completed today’s maneuver at 2:12 p.m. EST.

New Horizons was launched Jan. 19 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard an Atlas V launch vehicle. The powerful Atlas V, combined with a STAR 48 solid-fuel kick motor, sent the piano-sized 1,054-pound probe speeding from Earth at more than 36,000 miles per hour – the fastest spacecraft ever launched.

The Atlas V/STAR-48 combination was extremely accurate in placing New Horizons on its outbound trajectory; pre-launch predictions had allowed for a “clean up” maneuver five times the size of the combined thruster firings just completed. “Doing small maneuvers earlier allows us to correct trajectory errors before they grow, which saves more propellant for science observations later in the mission,” says Alice Bowman, New Horizons mission operations manager at APL.

The mission team plans to conduct one additional, small trajectory correction maneuver this Feb. 15. Close approach to Jupiter will occur on Feb. 28, 2007; besides the gravity assist, the flyby through the Jupiter system will allow the mission team to test the spacecraft’s science instruments on the giant planet and its moons.

 

[brandbll]

Couldn't we attach some sort of device that we could possibly receive the signal from? Or is it so random of a chnace that it could send something back that it wouldn't be worth it?

 

[MeteorWayne]

We could have, but any weight to do so (even a few ounces) would have had to been removed from the New Horizons craft itself to accomplish the mission. It's just not worth it. Better to cram as much as you can onto the craft that will visit the Putonian system, don't you think?