Pluto flyby: New Horizons

[Flyaway]

New Horizons is now in hibernation until April.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1845868893434167403

View: https://twitter.com/AlanStern/status/1845868893434167403
[Oct 14]

We put #NASA New Horizons back into hibernation last week. As we hibernate till Apr 2 it will take data from its plasma/energetic particle spectrometers SWAP & PEPSSI & the dust counter! Today we got our 1st hibernation "all's well" 'Green Beacon' report from the spacecraft!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1869846277032427801

View: https://twitter.com/NASANewHorizons/status/1869846277032427801
[Dec 19]

Even in hibernation, NASA’s New Horizons never rests! Since February, it has been collecting critical data on the Sun's outer heliosphere with its plasma, charged particle, and dust sensors. ️ Science continues until hibernation ends in April.

Some research into Uranus was published from 2023.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and New Horizons spacecraft simultaneously set their sights on Uranus recently, allowing scientists to make a direct comparison of the planet from two very different viewpoints. The results inform future plans to study like types of planets around other stars.

Astronomers used Uranus as a proxy for similar planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets, comparing high-resolution images from Hubble to the more-distant view from New Horizons. This combined perspective will help scientists learn more about what to expect while imaging planets around other stars with future telescopes.

[Oct 9]

 

[publiusr]

Extended hibernation announced--
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/new-...s-enters-missions-longest-hibernation-period/

 

[Owens Z]

Despite an extensive search spanning several years, no KBOs have been found that New Horizons could do a flyby of. So all they can do now is long-range observations using LORRI. That's what the "those observations would not be competitive with ground-based observations" line is about.

I will look forward to the news that the Vera Rubin Observatory has found a new target KBO for New Horizons to flyby.

New Horizons is now in hibernation until April.

Extended hibernation announced--

With the big wide-angle telescope at Vera Rubin Observatory at last entering service, Dr Alan Stern tells me that he and his team have put in an official request to pause the telescope's repeated 30-second exposures of the night sky, looking for interesting transients, for a one-time deep stare at the cone beyond the position (currently 64 AU) of New Horizons, to spot a suitable third flyby target. Perhaps August 2026, for the constellation Sagittarius from Chile. If there is indeed something in that volume of space to find, then this powerful new telescope would find it, and quickly. To try seems like a no-brainer, and I hope the Vera Rubin authorities agree. Other ground searches have come up with nothing, and (as Dr Stern said) the fields of view of the two space telescopes are too restricted to really help. The spare spy satellite reconstituted as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope helpfully has a much broader field of view, but its launch has been put off till 2027 or later: too bad.

New Horizons remains in good shape and has enough propellant and electrical power for another flyby, if a target is charted not too far off its current trajectory. Without belittling the probe's continued general survey work, or the great discoveries already made at Pluto (34 AU) and 486958 Arrokoth (43 AU), I really want a third flyby, and I'm far from alone. Yes, government funding for New Horizons remains threatened, but I expect that if an actual target is spotted, then money will be found. We'll see. Good luck, Dr Stern and team!

 

[publiusr]

With the big wide-angle telescope at Vera Rubin Observatory at last entering service, Dr Alan Stern tells me that he and his team have put in an official request to pause the telescope's repeated 30-second exposures of the night sky, looking for interesting transients, for a one-time deep stare at the cone beyond the position (currently 64 AU) of New Horizons, to spot a suitable third flyby target.

I might also want to look at SOHO data, to see if it slings a wayward comet towards NH’s general direction. 3I/Atlas too far afield?

The reason I keep suggesting this is because any object Vera Rubin spots may not be far enough ahead for New Horizons to deviate towards it in time.

The universe has a cruel streak—and I can just see in my minds eye a massive object discovered right as NH passes it… or a few months after.

If an object is leaving the inner solar system—NH may have more time to adjust.

The spare spy satellite reconstituted as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope helpfully has a much broader field of view.

I remember that:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_National_Reconnaissance_Office_space_telescope_donation_to_NASAhttps://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29081.msg912154#msg912154
There was even hostility towards the two mirror donations. WFIRST was almost a casualty of such grousing.

Without belittling the probe's continued general survey work, or the great discoveries already made at Pluto (34 AU) and 486958 Arrokoth (43 AU), I really want a third flyby.

I do too. Hopefully there will be a final flyby before handing everything over to the solar dynamics guys.

 

[Flyaway]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2005184450846663043

View: https://twitter.com/aakashg0/status/2005184450846663043

Aakash Gupta
@aakashgupta
·
Dec 27
The math on this image is insane.

New Horizons transmitted at 2,000 bits per second from 3 billion miles away. Slower than a 1990s dial-up modem. It took 16 months to download all the flyby data.

The spacecraft had to hit a target box 100km wide, arriving within 150 seconds of schedule, after 9 years of flight. Miss it and the preloaded observation commands point at empty space.

Ten days before arrival, the spacecraft crashed and went into safe mode. Engineers had 72 hours to restore everything.

The probe is now 5 billion miles out, still whispering data back to Earth. We got 50 gigabits of Pluto photos using technology slower than your phone’s bluetooth.

It took 9 years and 3 billion miles to get this shot.

Pluto’s icy Mountains.

 

[Owens Z]

...I do too. Hopefully there will be a final flyby before handing everything over to the solar dynamics guys.

Great news: it's been officially agreed that the powerful new Simonyi Survey Telescope (formerly LSST) at the Vera Rubin Observatory will do thirty hours of observations this year of the space just beyond the speeding New Horizons probe, to find a suitable third flyby target (if there is indeed something in that cone of space to find). Perhaps around August, when Sagittarius is best visible from Chile. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Dr Alan Stern, his team, and the plucky probe, which remains in good shape, and will keep an eye out for further news.

 

[Owens Z]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2005184450846663043

After New Horizons passed 486958 Arrokoth on 1 January 2019, it took about twenty months for the probe's modest transmitter to downlink all the resulting images and data to Earth, starting at 43.4 AU distance. Assuming that if Chile's Vera Rubin Observatory spots an appropriate flyby target later this year it will be Arrokoth-like, then the inverse-square law means that download of the resulting 7GB of information will take substantially more time: outward-bound New Horizons is currently 64 AU away and will be farther when it intercepts a new target a few years from now. Considerable expense and bother for NASA's Deep Space Network (yet, of course, very worthwhile).

 

[Flyaway]

NASA's New Horizons probe just woke up from hibernation 6 billion miles away beyond Pluto. What's it doing out there?

NASA's New Horizons probe has woken up in good health nearly 6 billion miles away beyond Pluto after spending nearly a year in hibernation.

 

[FighterJock]

Good to see that New Horizons is still operational, even though it has spent over a year in hibernation. I am glad that it has woken up without problems.

 

[NMaude]

I hope that a suitable KBO has been detected along its' projected flight trajectory as it has enough propellant left for one more flyby.

 

[Owens Z]

NASA's New Horizons probe just woke up from hibernation 6 billion miles away beyond Pluto. What's it doing out there?

Good to see that New Horizons is still operational, even though it has spent over a year in hibernation. I am glad that it has woken up without problems.

I hope that a suitable KBO has been detected along its' projected flight trajectory as it has enough propellant left for one more flyby.

We should have a yes or no soon, NMaude. The constellation Sagittarius (where the New Horizons probe and its outbound trajectory are embedded) will be in optimal view from Chile's night sky next month. Sagittarius is famously crowded, looking toward the center of the Milky Way, and thus difficult to search. Repeated tries with the big Subaru Telescope in Hawaii had come up with nothing. The more powerful Simonyi Survey Telescope, newly operational this year after many delays, is the last hope. Fingers are crossed! If the unprecedently-wide-field-of-view Simonyi does spot something interesting, then with an exact position charted, one of the two space telescopes (too narrow a view to profitably undertake a search themselves) can be brought in for a second opinion. We'll see.

As Flyaway noted, New Horizons remains healthy, with enough rocket propellant and electrical power for a third flyby. While the probe's cameras were designed for dim light, Dr Alan Stern said that it's not practical for New Horizons itself to search ahead. The fixed instruments would have to be nodded by continually firing the rockets, depleting the remaining propellant. And anyways, there is not the bandwidth for communicating a stream of search images back to Earth for processing (nine hours distant at c). So it's the Simonyi Survey Telescope, or bust.

 

[Flyaway]

The PI’s Perspective: An Update from Deep in the Kuiper Belt

NASA’s New Horizons is healthy and continuing to speed outward across the Kuiper Belt. Our spacecraft is now over 63 times as far from the Sun as Earth; that’s nearly 6 billion miles from home! Radio signals, traveling to and from New Horizons at the speed of light -- about 186,000 miles per second -- take about 10 hours to cover that distance!

 

[Flyaway]

NASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of funding

Next month, NASA’s New Horizons mission plans to shut off two instruments that study the solar wind because of a lack of funding from the agency, mission scientists say. The move comes even as the spacecraft nears the outer edge of the Solar System, following a different route than its far-out predecessors, Voyager 1 and 2.

 

[FighterJock]

That is sheer and utter madness Flyaway, NASA shutting down two instrments on Pluto New Horizons just because of the lack of funding? Makes me mad just thinking about it.

 

[NMaude]

NASA shutting down two instrments on Pluto New Horizons just because of the lack of funding?

I wouldn't be surprised at all if that swine Russell Vought is behind this.

 

[FighterJock]

Same thoughts here NMaude.

 

[Flyaway]

Just to add without these two instruments the mission will no longer probably be viable and will I guess have to be shut down. Which is not a bug, but probably what was intended all along.

 

[FighterJock]

But it will be annoying in all respects to see Pluto New Horizons getting shut down before it's time.

 

[Flyaway]

It isn't looking good, with the instruments due to go offline next month, but it isn't necessarily a done deal either.

"We have heard from a few members of the community on this and indicated we are looking into it. The big dollars were already invested in New Horizons, so generally supportive of generating high-quality scientific returns for low-dollar spend," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wrote on X on Tuesday.

"This mission aside, at NASA, we do spend a large portion of the SMD budget maintaining missions well beyond their initial design life and scientific returns do diminish. If we can consolidate, ensure continuity of the science, and free up more resources for new breakthrough missions, like whatever comes after Dragonfly, we should, and I suspect we will."

https://www.iflscience.com/a-nasa-s...-may-be-shut-off-due-to-lack-of-funding-84551

 

[FighterJock]

Let's see what happens if enough scientists voice there anger at such idiotic thinking then may be that will force NASA into a u-turn.

 

[Michel Van]

There also another reason NASA turn off New Horizons instrument:
Electrical power and Heat

New Horizons power supply is ONE small RTG
with 245.7 W of power at launch, dropping 3.5 W every year.
launch 20 years ago it dropped to 175,7 W and falling further.
the RTG keep also the Electronic warm
currently New Horizons could operate to 2028 or
2030 if instruments are shut down and focus on heliophysics only (like Voyager)

 

[FighterJock]

I did not know that about New Horizons RTG losing power at that rate per year, if that continues at that rate then we could lose New Horizons quicker if we don't shut down some expriments that are no longer needed.

 

[NMaude]

I hope that ground telescopes can find a suitable KBO soon that lies within the probe's reach as it has enough propellant left for one more flyby.

 

[FighterJock]

And that cannot come soon enough NMaude, finding suitable KBOs has been difficult for New Horizons recently certainly in the near vicinity if the probe the scientists have found no candidates for a flyby mission.