New Horizons

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New Horizons

New Horizons

New Horizons space probe

Mission type Flyby


(132524 APL · Jupiter · Pluto · 486958 Arrokoth)
Operator NASA
COSPAR ID 2006-001A (https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2006-001A)
SATCAT no. 28928
Website pluto.jhuapl.edu (http://pluto.jhuapl.edu)
nasa.gov/newhorizons (https://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons)
Mission Primary mission: 9.5 years
duration Elapsed: 16 years, 6 months, 7 days

Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer APL / SwRI
Launch 478 kg (1,054 lb)
mass
Dry mass 401 kg (884 lb)
Payload 30.4 kg (67 lb)
mass
Dimensions 2.2 × 2.1 × 2.7 m (7.2 × 6.9 × 8.9 ft)
Power 245 watts

Start of mission
Launch date January 19, 2006, 19:00:00.221 UTC[1]
Rocket Atlas V (551) AV-010[1] + Star 48B 3rd stage
Launch site Cape Canaveral SLC-41
Contractor International Launch Services[2]

Orbital parameters
Eccentricity 1.41905
Inclination 2.23014°
Epoch January 1, 2017 (JD 2457754.5)[3]

Flyby of 132524 APL (incidental)


Closest June 13, 2006, 04:05 UTC
approach
Distance 101,867 km (63,297 mi)
Flyby of Jupiter (gravity assist)
Closest February 28, 2007, 05:43:40 UTC
approach
Distance 2,300,000 km (1,400,000 mi)
Flyby of Pluto
Closest July 14, 2015, 11:49:57 UTC
approach
Distance 12,500 km (7,800 mi)
Flyby of 486958 Arrokoth
Closest January 1, 2019, 05:33:00 UTC
approach
Distance 3,500 km (2,200 mi)
Instruments
Alice Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer
LORRI Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager
SWAP Solar Wind Around Pluto
PEPSSI Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation
REX Radio Science Experiment
Ralph Ralph Telescope
SDC Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter

New Frontiers program


 
New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that was launched
as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program.[4] Engineered by the
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and
the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with a team led by Alan
Stern,[5] the spacecraft was launched in 2006 with the primary
mission to perform a flyby study of the Pluto 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 New Horizons before launch
the escape velocity needed to leave the Solar System.

On January 19, 2006, New Horizons was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station by an Atlas
V rocket directly into an Earth-and-solar escape trajectory with a speed of about 16.26 km/s (10.10 mi/s;
58,500 km/h; 36,400 mph). It was the fastest (average speed with respect to Earth) man-made object ever
launched from Earth.[6][7][8][9] 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 132524 APL, New Horizons proceeded to
Jupiter, making its closest approach on February 28, 2007, at a distance of 2.3  million kilometers
(1.4  million miles). 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.

Most of the post-Jupiter voyage was spent in hibernation mode to preserve on-board systems, except for
brief annual checkouts.[10] On December 6, 2014, New Horizons was brought back online for the Pluto
encounter, and instrument check-out began.[11] On January 15, 2015, the spacecraft began its approach
phase to Pluto.

On July 14, 2015, at 11:49 UTC, it flew 12,500 km (7,800 mi) above the surface of Pluto,[12][13] which at
the time was 34 AU from the Sun, making it the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet.[14] In August
2016, New Horizons was reported to have traveled at speeds of more than 84,000 km/h (52,000 mph).[15]
On October 25, 2016, at 21:48 UTC, the last of the recorded data from the Pluto flyby was received from
New Horizons.[16] Having completed its flyby of Pluto,[17] New Horizons then maneuvered for a flyby of
Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth (then nicknamed Ultima Thule),[18][19][20] which occurred on January
1, 2019,[21][22] when it was 43.4 AU from the Sun.[18][19] In August 2018, NASA cited results by Alice
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.[23][24]

Contents
History
Mission profile
Goal
Design and construction
Spacecraft subsystems
Propulsion and attitude control
Power
Flight computer
Telecommunications and data handling
Science payload
Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI)
Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP)
Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI)
Alice
Ralph telescope
Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (VBSDC)
Radio Science Experiment (REX)
Journey to Pluto
Launch
Inner Solar System
Trajectory corrections
In-flight tests and crossing of Mars orbit
Asteroid 132524 APL
First Pluto sighting
Jupiter encounter
Jovian moons
Outer Solar System
Possible Neptune trojan targets
Observations of Pluto and Charon 2013–14
Pluto approach
Software glitch
Pluto system encounter
Objectives
Flyby details
Satellite observations
Post-Pluto events
Mission extension
Kuiper belt object mission
Target background
KBO Search
Suitable KBOs
KBO selection
Observations of other KBOs
Encounter with Arrokoth
Objectives
Targeting maneuvers
Approach phase
Flyby
Data download
Post Arrokoth events
Plans
Speed
Gallery
Images of the launch
Videos
Timeline
Preparation phase
Launch phase
Jupiter pre-encounter phase
Jupiter encounter phase
Pluto pre-encounter phase
Pluto science phase
Arrokoth pre-encounter phase
Arrokoth science phase and beyond
Post-mission phase
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

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."[25] 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 Early concept art of the New
with Alan Stern in December 2000. Appointed as the project's Horizons spacecraft. The mission,
principal investigator, Stern was described by Krimigis as "the led by the Applied Physics
personification of the Pluto mission".[26] New Horizons was based Laboratory and Alan Stern,
largely on Stern's work since Pluto 350 and involved most of the eventually became the first mission
team from Pluto Kuiper Express. [27] The New Horizons proposal to Pluto.
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 and the University of
California.[28] However, the APL, in addition to being supported by Pluto Kuiper Express developers at
the Goddard Space Flight Center and Stanford University,[28] 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.[29]

In November 2001, New Horizons was officially selected for funding as part of the New Frontiers
program.[30] 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, 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 "[his] administration was not going to fight".[26] Funding for the mission was finally secured following
the publication of the report, and 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.[26] Alice Bowman became
Mission Operations Manager (MOM).[31]

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).[32] The spacecraft was built
primarily by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and the Johns Hopkins
Applied Physics Laboratory. The mission's principal investigator is Alan
Stern of the Southwest Research Institute (formerly NASA Associate
Administrator).

Artist's impression of New After separation from the launch vehicle, overall control was taken by
Horizons ' close encounter Mission Operations Center (MOC) at the Applied Physics Laboratory in
with the Plutonian system Howard County, Maryland. The science instruments are operated at Clyde
Tombaugh Science Operations Center (T-SOC) in Boulder, Colorado.[33]
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; and the Naval Observatory itself is not far
from the Lowell Observatory where Pluto was discovered.

New Horizons was originally planned as a voyage to the only unexplored planet in the Solar System. When
the spacecraft was launched, Pluto was still classified as a planet, later to be reclassified as a dwarf planet
by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Some members of the New Horizons team, including Alan
Stern, disagree with the IAU definition and still describe Pluto as the ninth planet.[34] Pluto's satellites Nix
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.[35]

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,[36] a piece of Scaled Composites's
SpaceShipOne,[37] a "Not Yet Explored" USPS stamp,[38][39] and a Flag of the United States, along with
other mementos.[40]
About 30 grams (1  oz) of Clyde Tombaugh's ashes are aboard the spacecraft, to commemorate his
discovery of Pluto in 1930.[41][42] A Florida-state quarter coin, whose design commemorates human
exploration, is included, officially as a trim weight.[43] 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.[44] 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.[45] "By
way of comparison, New Horizons gathered 5,000 times as much
data at Pluto as Mariner did at the Red Planet."[46] View of Mission Operations at the
Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel,
Some of the questions the mission attempts to answer are: What is Maryland (July 14, 2015)
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?[47]

Specifically, the mission's science objectives are to:[48]

Map the surface compositions of Pluto and Charon


Characterize the geologies and morphologies of Pluto and Charon
Characterize the neutral atmosphere of Pluto 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 3D

The spacecraft is
comparable in size and
general shape to a grand
piano and has been
compared to a piano glued
to a cocktail bar-sized
satellite dish.[49] As a point Interactive 3D model of New
Horizons
of departure, the team took
inspiration from the Ulysses
New Horizons in a factory at
Kennedy Space Center in 2005
spacecraft,[50] which also
carried a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (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 0.76 m (2.5 ft) thick. (The Pioneers have hexagonal 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
2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) radio dish antenna affixed to the "front" flat side. The titanium 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 1 ⁄64   in or 0.40  mm) 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 louvers 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.

Propulsion and attitude control

New Horizons has both spin-stabilized (cruise) and three-axis stabilized (science) modes controlled entirely
with hydrazine monopropellant. Additional post launch delta-v of over 290 m/s (1,000 km/h; 650 mph) is
provided by a 77 kg (170 lb) internal tank. Helium is used as a pressurant, with an elastomeric diaphragm
assisting expulsion. The spacecraft's on-orbit mass including fuel is over 470 kg (1,040 lb) on the Jupiter
flyby trajectory, but would have been only 445  kg (981  lb) 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 4.4  N (1.0  lbf) and twelve 0.9  N (0.2  lbf) 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 gyroscopes and three
accelerometers. 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 (RTG) protrudes in the plane of the triangle from one
vertex of the triangle. The RTG provided 245.7  W of power at launch, and was predicted to drop
approximately 3.5 W every year, decaying to 202 W by the time of its encounter with the Plutonian system
in 2015 and will decay too far to power the transmitters in the 2030s.[5] 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 190 W.[51]

The RTG, model "GPHS-RTG", was originally a spare from the Cassini mission. The RTG contains
9.75  kg (21.5  lb) of plutonium-238 oxide pellets.[27] Each pellet is clad in iridium, 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.[52]
The original RTG design called
for 10.9 kg (24 lb) 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.[53] 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 New Horizons ' RTG
atmosphere at 1 in 350, and monitored the launch[54] 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 105 km (65 mi).[55]

Flight computer

The spacecraft carries two computer 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, a 12 MHz radiation-hardened version of the
MIPS R3000 CPU. 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 9  boards.[56] The
software of the probe runs on Nucleus RTOS operating system.[57]

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.[58]
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.[59][60]

Telecommunications and data handling

Communication with the spacecraft is via X band. The craft had a communication rate of 38  kbit/s at
Jupiter; at Pluto's distance, a rate of approximately 1 kbit/s per transmitter was expected. Besides the low
data rate, Pluto's distance also causes a latency of about 4.5  hours (one-way). The 70  m (230  ft) NASA
Deep Space Network (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).
New Horizons ' antenna, with some
In addition to the high-gain antenna, there are two backup low-gain test equipment attached.
antennas and a medium-gain dish. The high-gain dish has a
Cassegrain reflector layout, composite construction, of 2.1-meter
(7 ft) diameter providing over 42 dBi of gain and a half-power beam width of about a degree. The prime-
focus medium-gain antenna, with a 0.3-meter (1 ft) 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 8 gigabytes 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.[61] 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.[62]

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 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 21 watts, though not all instruments operate simultaneously.[63] 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.[64]

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).[65] 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 208.3 mm (8.20 in) aperture Ritchey–
Chretien mirrors and metering structure are made of silicon carbide
to boost stiffness, reduce weight and prevent warping at low LORRI—long-range camera
temperatures. The optical elements sit in a composite light shield
and mount with titanium and fiberglass for thermal isolation.
Overall mass is 8.6 kg (19 lb), with the optical tube assembly (OTA) weighing about 5.6 kg (12 lb),[66] 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 images.[65]
These public images do not contain the full dynamic range of brightness information available from the raw
LORRI images files.[65]

Principal investigator: Andy Cheng, Applied Physics Laboratory, Data: LORRI image search at
jhuapl.edu [67]

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 6.5  keV and, because of the
tenuous solar wind at Pluto's distance, the instrument is designed
with the largest aperture of any such instrument ever flown.[68]

Principal investigator: David McComas, Southwest Research


Institute
SWAP – Solar Wind Around Pluto

Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science


Investigation (PEPSSI)

Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI) is a time of flight ion and electron
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
6.5  keV, PEPSSI goes up to 1  MeV.[68] 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 protons,
electrons, and other heavy ions.[69]

Principal investigator: Ralph McNutt Jr., Applied Physics Laboratory

Alice
Alice is an ultraviolet 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 1,024 wavelength bands in the far and extreme ultraviolet (from 50–180 nm), over 32 view fields.
Its goal is to determine the composition of Pluto's atmosphere. This Alice instrument is derived from
another Alice aboard ESA's Rosetta spacecraft.[68] The instrument has a mass of 4.4kg 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.[70]

Principal investigator: Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute

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 that was first detected in 1992 by the two Voyager
spacecraft.[23][24]

Ralph telescope

The Ralph telescope, 75  mm[71] 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 imaging
spectrometer. LEISA is derived from a similar instrument on the
Ralph—telescope and color camera
Earth Observing-1 spacecraft. Ralph was named after Alice's
husband on The Honeymooners, and was designed after Alice.[72]

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, the Ralph program manager at Ball
Aerospace, who died in January 2017 at age 50.[73]

Principal investigator: Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute

Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (VBSDC)

The Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (VBSDC), built by


students at the University of Colorado Boulder, is operating
periodically to make dust measurements.[74][75] It consists of a
detector panel, about 460 mm × 300 mm (18 in × 12 in), 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 0.125 m2 (1.35 sq ft). No dust counter VBSDC—Venetia Burney Student
has operated past the orbit of Uranus; models of dust in the outer Dust Counter
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.[76]

Principal investigator: Mihaly Horanyi, University of Colorado Boulder

Radio Science Experiment (REX)

The Radio Science Experiment (REX) used an ultrastable crystal oscillator (essentially a calibrated crystal
in a miniature oven) 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.

Principal investigators: Len Tyler and Ivan Linscott, Stanford University

Journey to Pluto

Launch

Launch of New Horizons. The Atlas V rocket on the launchpad (left) and lift off from Cape Canaveral.

On September 24, 2005, the spacecraft arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on board a C-17 Globemaster
III for launch preparations.[77] The launch of New Horizons was originally scheduled for January 11, 2006,
but was initially delayed until January 17, 2006, to allow for borescope inspections of the Atlas V's
kerosene 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.[78][79]

The probe finally lifted off from Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, directly south of
Space Shuttle Launch Complex 39, at 19:00 UTC on January 19, 2006.[80][81] The Centaur 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 48B third stage ignited at 19:42:37 UTC and burned for 1 minute 28
seconds.[82] Combined, these burns successfully sent the probe on a solar-escape trajectory at 16.26
kilometers per second (58,536  km/h; 36,373  mph).[7] New Horizons took only nine hours to pass the
Moon's orbit.[83] 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.[84]
The probe was launched by a Lockheed Martin 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 573,160 kilograms (1,263,600  lb) at lift-
off,[82] and had earlier been slightly damaged when Hurricane Wilma 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.[85]

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.[86]

Inner Solar System

Trajectory corrections

On January 28 and 30, 2006, mission controllers guided the probe through its first trajectory-correction
maneuver (TCM), which was divided into two parts (TCM-1A and TCM-1B). The total velocity change of
these two corrections was about 18 meters per second (65 km/h; 40 mph). TCM-1 was accurate enough to
permit the cancellation of TCM-2, the second of three originally scheduled corrections.[87] 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 1.16 m/s (4.2 km/h; 2.6 mph).[88] 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 2.37  m/s
(8.5 km/h; 5.3 mph),[89] 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.[90]

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.[91]

On April 7, 2006, the spacecraft passed the orbit of Mars, moving at roughly 21  km/s (76,000  km/h;
47,000 mph) away from the Sun at a solar distance of 243 million kilometers.[92][93][94]

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 on June 13, 2006. Closest approach occurred at 4:05  UTC at a distance of
101,867  km (63,297  mi) (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's capabilities, and make observations of the asteroid's composition as well as light and
phase curves. The asteroid was estimated to be 2.5  km (1.6  mi) in diameter.[95][96][97] 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.[98] The images, taken from a distance of
approximately 4.2  billion  km (2.6  billion  mi; 28  AU),
confirmed the spacecraft's ability to track distant targets,
critical for maneuvering toward Pluto and other Kuiper Asteroid 132524 APL First images of Pluto in
belt objects. viewed by New September 2006
Horizons in June 2006

Jupiter encounter

New Horizons used LORRI to take its first photographs of Jupiter on September
4, 2006, from a distance of 291 million kilometers (181 million miles).[99] 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.[100] New Horizons received a gravity assist from Jupiter, with its closest
approach at 05:43:40  UTC on February 28, 2007, when it was 2.3  million
kilometers (1.4  million miles) from Jupiter. The flyby increased New Horizons'
speed by 4 km/s (14,000 km/h; 9,000 mph), accelerating the probe to a velocity of
23 km/s (83,000 km/h; 51,000 mph) relative to the Sun and shortening its voyage
to Pluto by three years.[101]

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
Infrared image of
observed intermittently since the end of the Galileo mission in September 2003.
Jupiter by New
Knowledge about Jupiter benefited from the fact that New Horizons' instruments
Horizons
were built using the latest technology, especially in the area of cameras,
representing a significant improvement over Galileo's cameras, which were
modified versions of Voyager 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.[102]

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.[101] 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,
New Horizons collected valuable particle readings.[101] "Bubbles" of plasma that are thought to be formed
from material ejected by the moon Io were noticed in the magnetotail.[103]

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 reached an altitude of up to 330 km (210 mi). 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.[101] Callisto's surface was analyzed
with LEISA, revealing how lighting and viewing conditions affect infrared spectrum readings of its surface
water ice.[104] Minor moons such as Amalthea had their orbit solutions refined. The cameras determined
their positions, acting as "reverse optical navigation".

Jovian moons imaged by New Horizons

Io imaged on February 28, 2007. Europa imaged on February 27, Ganymede imaged on February
The feature near the north pole 2007, from a distance of 27, 2007, from a distance of
of the moon is a 290 km 3.1 million km (1.9 million mi). 3.5 million km (2.2 million mi).
(180 mi) high plume from the Image scale is 15 km per pixel Image scale is 17 km per pixel
volcano Tvashtar. (9.3 mi/px). (11 mi/px).

Callisto imaged on February 27,


2007, from a distance of
4.7 million km (2.9 million mi).
Media related to Photos of Jupiter system by New Horizons at Wikimedia Commons

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.[105] 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.[105] 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,[105] the second cycle began on December 16,
2008,[106] the third cycle on August 27, 2009,[107] and the
fourth cycle on August 29, 2014, after a 10-week test.[108]

New Horizons crossed the orbit of Saturn on June 8,


2008,[109] and Uranus on March 18, 2011.[110] 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.[111][112] 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 Heliocentric positions of the five
present trajectory with the antenna facing the incoming interstellar probes (squares) and other
particles so the more vital systems would be protected, or it bodies (circles) until 2020, with launch and
could have positioned its antenna to make a course correction flyby dates. Markers denote positions on
that would take it just 3000  km from the surface of Pluto 1 January of each year, with every fifth
where it was expected that the atmospheric drag would have year labeled.
cleaned the surrounding space of possible debris.[112] Plot 1 is viewed from the north ecliptic
pole, to scale; plots 2 to 4 are third-angle
While in hibernation mode in July 2012, New Horizons started projections at 20% scale.
gathering scientific data with SWAP, PEPSSI and VBSDC. In the SVG file, (https://upload.wikimedia.
Although it was originally planned to activate just the org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Interstellar_p
VBSDC, other instruments were powered on in order to robes_trajectory.svg) hover over a
collect valuable heliospheric data. Before activating the other trajectory or orbit to highlight it and its
two instruments, ground tests were conducted to make sure associated launches and flybys.
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.[113] 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.[114]

Possible Neptune trojan targets

Other possible targets were Neptune trojans. The probe's trajectory to Pluto passed near Neptune's trailing
Lagrange point ("L5 "), which may host hundreds of bodies in 1:1 resonance. In late 2013, New Horizons
passed within 1.2  AU (180,000,000  km; 110,000,000  mi) of the high-inclination L5 Neptune trojan
2011 HM102 ,[115] 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, 2011 HM102 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 2011 HM102
for observations because the preparations for the Pluto approach took precedence.[116]
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.[117] On July 14, 2014, mission controllers performed a sixth trajectory-correction
maneuver (TCM) since its launch to enable the craft to reach Pluto.[118] 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 429 to 422  million kilometers (267,000,000 to 262,000,000  mi).[119] 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.[120] 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.[121][122][123]

Pluto approach

Pluto and Charon photographed on April 9, 2015, (left) by Ralph and on June 29, 2015, (right) by LORRI.

Distant-encounter operations at Pluto began on January 4, 2015.[124] On this date, images of the targets
with the onboard LORRI imager plus the Ralph telescope were only a few pixels 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.[125]

On February 12, 2015, NASA released new images of Pluto (taken from January 25 to 31) from the
approaching probe.[126][127] New Horizons was more than 203 million kilometers (126,000,000 mi) 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 201 million kilometers (125,000,000 mi).[128] 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.[129] 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.[130] 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 2011 KW48 ), when the object was at a distance from New
Horizons of 75 gigameters (0.50 AU).[131] 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.[131] On
April 15, 2015, Pluto was imaged showing a possible polar cap.[132]

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.[133][134] 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.[135]

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.[135][136]

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 12,472 km
(7,750  mi) from the surface[137] and 13,658  km (8,487  mi) from
the center of Pluto. Telemetry 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,[138] 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 Alan Stern and the New Horizons
communication-systems during the flyby, preventing it from team celebrate after the spacecraft
sending data to Earth.[139] The first details of the encounter were successfully completed its flyby of
received the next day, but the download of the complete data set Pluto.
through the 2 kbps data downlink took just over 15 months,[16] and
analysis of the data continues as of 2021.[140]

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 on the spacecraft. Instead, SWAP and PEPSSI could indirectly detect
magnetic fields around Pluto.[141]

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 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 (upper layer of the atmosphere) and its interaction with
the solar wind
Search for molecular neutral species such as molecular hydrogen, hydrocarbons,
hydrogen cyanide and other nitriles 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, 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."[142]

Flyby details

New Horizons passed within 12,500  km (7,800  mi) of


Pluto, with this closest approach on July 14, 2015, at
11:50  UTC. New Horizons had a relative velocity of
13.78  km/s (49,600  km/h; 30,800  mph) at its closest
approach, and came as close as 28,800 km (17,900 mi)
to Charon. Starting 3.2 days before the closest approach,
long-range imaging included the mapping of Pluto and
Charon to 40  km (25  mi) resolution. This is half the Pluto's "encounter Pluto's Charon-facing
rotation period of the Pluto–Charon system and allowed hemisphere" viewed by opposing hemisphere
imaging of all sides of both bodies. Close range imaging New Horizons on July viewed on July 11,
was repeated twice per day in order to search for surface 13, 2015 2015
changes caused by localized snow fall or surface
cryovolcanism. 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 50 m per pixel (160 ft/px) if closest distance were
around 12,500  km, and MVIC was expected to obtain four-color global dayside maps at 1.6  km (1  mi)
resolution. LORRI and MVIC attempted to overlap their respective coverage areas to form stereo pairs.
LEISA obtained hyperspectral near-infrared maps at 7  km/px (4.3  mi/px) globally and 0.6  km/px
(0.37 mi/px) 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). During Animation of New Horizons ' flyby of
Patterns of blue-gray ridges and and after closest approach, Pluto in Eyes on the Solar System.
reddish material observed in the SWAP and PEPSSI
Tartarus Dorsa region on July 14,
sampled the high
2015
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 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 330  m per pixel (1,080  ft/px) at Nix,
780 m/px (2,560 ft/px) at Hydra, and approximately 1.8 km/px (1.1 mi/px) at Kerberos and Styx. Estimates
for the dimensions of these bodies are: Nix at 49.8 × 33.2 × 31.1 km (30.9 × 20.6 × 19.3 mi); Hydra at
50.9 × 36.1 × 30.9 km (31.6 × 22.4 × 19.2 mi); Kerberos at 19 × 10 × 9 km (11.8 × 6.2 × 5.6 mi); and Styx
at 16 × 9 × 8 km (9.9 × 5.6 × 5.0 mi).[143]

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, 19  km (12  mi) across with a
highly reflective surface suggesting the presence of relatively clean water ice similarly to the rest of Pluto's
smaller moons.[144]
Satellites of Pluto imaged by New Horizons

Charon Styx Nix Kerberos

Hydra
Media related to Photos of Pluto system by New Horizons at Wikimedia Commons

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.[145][146] The spacecraft's immediate task was to begin
returning the 6.25 gigabytes of information collected.[16] 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.[147] Because of the extremely low RSL, it could only
View of Pluto as New Horizons left
the system, catching the Sun's rays
transmit data at 1 to 2 kilobits per second.[148]
passing through Pluto's atmosphere,
By March 30, 2016, about nine months after the flyby, New
forming a ring
Horizons reached the halfway point of transmitting this data.[149]
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.[16][150]

As of November 2018, at a distance of 43 AU (6.43 billion km; 4.00 billion mi) from the Sun and 0.4 AU
(60 million km; 37 million mi) from 486958 Arrokoth,[151] New Horizons was heading in the direction of
the constellation Sagittarius[152] at 14.10  km/s (8.76  mi/s; 2.97  AU/a) relative to the Sun.[151] The
brightness of the Sun from the spacecraft was magnitude −18.5.[152]

On 17 April 2021, New Horizons reached a distance of 50 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, while
remaining fully operational.[153]
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.[154] 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,[155][154][156] and
possibly make a fly-by of another KBO.

Kuiper belt object mission

Target background Big picture: from the inner Solar


System to the Oort cloud with the
Mission planners searched for one or more additional Kuiper belt Kuiper belt in between
objects (KBOs) of the order of 50–100 km (31–62 mi) 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 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 55  AU, because beyond 55  AU, the
communications link becomes too weak, and the RTG power output decays significantly enough to hinder
observations.[157] Desirable KBOs are well over 50  km (30  mi) 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[115][158] were used to search for potential targets. By
participating in a citizen-science project called Ice Hunters the Trajectory of New Horizons and other
public helped to scan telescopic images for possible suitable nearby Kuiper belt objects
mission candidates.[159][160][161][162][163] The ground-based
search resulted in the discovery of about 143 KBOs of potential
interest,[164] but none of these were close enough to the flight path of New Horizons.[158] Only the Hubble
Space Telescope was deemed likely to find a suitable target in time for a successful KBO mission.[165] On
June 16, 2014, time on Hubble was granted for a search.[166] 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%.[167]

Suitable KBOs

On October 15, 2014, it was revealed that Hubble's search had uncovered three potential
targets,[168][169][170][171][172] 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 30–55  km (19–34  mi)
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.[169] The
initial estimated probabilities that these objects were reachable
within New Horizons' fuel budget were 100%, 7%, and 97%,
respectively.[169] All were members of the "cold" (low-inclination,
low-eccentricity) classical Kuiper belt objects, and thus were very
different from Pluto.

PT1 (given the temporary designation "1110113Y" on the HST


web site[173]), the most favorably situated object, had a magnitude
of 26.8, is 30–45 km (19–28 mi) in diameter, and was encountered 486958 Arrokoth, the announced
in January 2019.[174] A course change to reach it required about target for the Kuiper belt object
35% of New Horizons' available trajectory-adjustment fuel supply. mission
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.[169]

Once sufficient orbital information was provided, the Minor Planet Center gave provisional designations to
the three target KBOs: 2014 MU69 (later 486958 Arrokoth) (PT1), 2014 OS393 (PT2), and 2014 PN70
(PT3). By the fall of 2014, a possible fourth target, 2014 MT69 , had been eliminated by follow-up
observations. PT2 was out of the running before the Pluto flyby.[175][176]

KBO selection

On August 28, 2015, 486958 Arrokoth (then known as (486958) 2014 MU69 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.[177][178] The flyby occurred on January 1,
2019, at 00:33 UTC.[179][180]

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.[181] In
addition, it will continue to study the gas, dust and plasma composition of the Kuiper belt before the
mission extension ends in 2021.[155][156]

On November 2, 2015, New Horizons imaged KBO 15810 Arawn with the LORRI instrument from
280  million  km away (170  million  mi; 1.9  AU).[182] This KBO was again imaged by the LORRI
instrument on April 7–8, 2016, from a distance of 111  million  km (69  million  mi; 0.74 AU). The new
images allowed the science team to further refine the location of 15810 Arawn to within 1,000 km (620 mi)
and to determine its rotational period of 5.47 hours.[183][184]

In July 2016, the LORRI camera captured some distant images of Quaoar from 2.1  billion  km away
(1.3 billion mi; 14 AU); the oblique view will complement Earth-based observations to study the object's
light-scattering properties.[185]
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's famous Pale Blue Dot). Two hours later, New Horizons surpassed its own record, imaging the
Kuiper belt objects 2012 HZ84 and 2012 HE85 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 as of
February 2018.[186][187]

Extended mission imaging targets

15810 Arawn in April 2016 50000 Quaoar in July Calibration image of the False-color image of
2016 at a distance of Wishing Well cluster 2012 HZ84 from
about 14 AU[185] from December 2017 December 2017

False-color image of
2012 HE85 from
December 2017
Media related to Photos of Kuiper belt objects by New Horizons at Wikimedia Commons

Encounter with Arrokoth

Objectives

Science objectives of the flyby included characterizing the geology


and morphology of Arrokoth[188][189] and mapping the surface
composition (by searching for ammonia, carbon monoxide,
methane, and water ice). Searches will be conducted for orbiting
Animation of New Horizons' flyby of
moonlets, a coma, rings and the surrounding environment.[190]
Arrokoth in Eyes on the Solar
Additional objectives include:[191]
System.
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.[192] New Horizons
was planned to come within 3,500  km (2,200  mi) of Arrokoth,
three times closer than the spacecraft's earlier encounter with Pluto. Animation of New Horizons 's
Images with a resolution of up to 30  m (98  ft) per pixel were trajectory from January 19, 2006 to
expected.[193] December 30, 2030
    New Horizons  ·
The new mission began on October 22, 2015, when New Horizons    486958 Arrokoth ·    Earth ·
carried out the first in a series of four initial targeting maneuvers    132524 APL ·    Jupiter  ·
designed to send it towards Arrokoth. The maneuver, which started    Pluto
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 10 meters per second
(33  ft/s). The remaining three targeting maneuvers took place on
October 25, October 28, and November 4, 2015.[194][195]

Approach phase

The craft was brought out of its hibernation at approximately


00:33  UTC SCET on June 5, 2018 (06:12  UTC ERT, Earth-
Received Time),[a] in order to prepare for the approach
phase.[197][198] 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.[199]

New Horizons made its first detection of Arrokoth on August 16,


2018, from a distance of 107 million mi (172 million km). At that
time, Arrokoth was visible at magnitude 20 against a crowded New Horizons image of Arrokoth
stellar background in the direction of the constellation
Sagittarius.[200][201]

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 51,500  km/h (32,000  mph; 14.3  km/s) and within 3,500  km
(2,200 mi).[202] The majority of the science data was collected within 48 hours of the closest approach in a
phase called the Inner Core.[199] Closest approach occurred January 1, 2019, at 05:33 UTC[203] SCET at
which point the probe was 43.4 AU from the Sun.[204] At this distance, the one-way transit time for radio
signals between Earth and New Horizons was six hours.[190] Confirmation that the craft had succeeded in
filling its digital recorders occurred when data arrived on Earth ten hours later, at 15:29 UTC.[205]

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.[199] This download is expected to take 20 months at a data rate of 1–2 kilobits per second.[206]

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."[207]
New Horizons ' position[151]
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 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 because of the absence of diffuse background sky brightness from the zodiacal light 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.[208][209]

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 11,
Voyager 1, and Voyager 2. Voyager 1 is the farthest spacecraft from the Sun, more than 152 AUs away
when New Horizons reached its landmark in 2021.[210] 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.[211]

Plans

After the spacecraft's passage by Arrokoth, the instruments continue to have sufficient 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.[212][213] 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 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.[214]

In addition, New Horizons may take a picture of Earth from its distance in the Kuiper belt, but only after
completing all planned KBO flybys.[215] This is because pointing a camera towards Earth could cause the
camera to be damaged by sunlight,[216] as none of New Horizons' cameras have an active shutter
mechanism.[217][218]

Speed
New Horizons has been called "the fastest spacecraft ever launched"[6] because it left Earth at 16.26
kilometers per second (58,536 km/h; 36,373 mph).[7][8] It is also the first spacecraft launched directly into a
solar escape trajectory, which requires an approximate speed while near Earth of 16.5 km/s (59,000 km/h;
37,000  mph),[b] 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.


As of January 2018, this record is held by Voyager 1, traveling at
16.985  km/s (61,146  km/h; 37,994  mph) relative to the Sun.[152]
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 100  AU, it will be travelling at
about 13  km/s (47,000  km/h; 29,000  mph), around 4  km/s
(14,000  km/h; 8,900  mph) slower than Voyager 1 at that Speed and distance from the Sun
distance. [219] The Parker Solar Probe can also be measured as the
fastest object, because of its orbital speed relative to the Sun at
perihelion: 95.3 km/s (343,000 km/h; 213,000 mph).[c] 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.[220] Because it was not in controlled flight, it did not receive the correct gravity assist, and passed
within 200  million  km (120  million  mi) of Pluto.[220] The Centaur second stage did not achieve solar
escape velocity, and remains in a heliocentric orbit.[221][c]

Gallery

Images of the launch


The Atlas V 551 View of Cape Canaveral Launch Distant view of Cape Canaveral during
rocket, used to Complex 41, with the Atlas V carrying the launch of New Horizons on January
launch New New Horizons on the pad. 19, 2006.
Horizons, being
processed a
month before
launch.

NASA TV footage of New


Horizons ' launch from Cape
Canaveral. (4:00)

Videos
0:00

(00:30; released September 18, 2015)

0:00

(00:50; released December 5, 2015)

Timeline

Preparation phase
January 8, 2001: Proposal team meets face-to-face for the first time at the Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Laboratory.[223]
February 5, 2001: New Horizons name chosen.[223][224]
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.[223]
November 29, 2001: New Horizons proposal selected by NASA. Started Phase B study.[225]
March 2002: Budget zeroed by Bush administration, later overridden.[226][227]
June 13, 2005: Spacecraft departed Applied Physics Laboratory for final testing. It
undergoes final testing at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).[228]
September 24, 2005: Spacecraft shipped to Cape Canaveral. It was moved through
Andrews Air Force Base aboard a C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft.[77]
December 17, 2005: Spacecraft ready for in rocket positioning. Transported from Hazardous
Servicing Facility to Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41.[229]
January 11, 2006: Primary launch window opened. The launch was delayed for further
testing.[230]
January 16, 2006: Rocket moved onto launch pad. Atlas V launcher, serial number AV-010,
rolled out onto pad.[231]
January 17, 2006: Launch delayed. First day launch attempts scrubbed because of
unacceptable weather conditions (high winds).[78][79]
January 18, 2006: Launch delayed again. Second launch attempt scrubbed because of
morning power outage at the Applied Physics Laboratory.[232]

Launch phase
January 19, 2006: Successful launch at 19:00 UTC after a brief delay due to cloud
cover.[80][81]

Jupiter pre-encounter phase


April 7, 2006: The probe passed Mars' orbit 1.5 AU from Earth.[92][233]
June 13, 2006: Flyby of asteroid 132524 APL. 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.[234]
November 28, 2006: First image of Pluto. The image of Pluto was taken from a great
distance.[98]

Jupiter encounter phase


January 10, 2007: Navigation exercise near Jupiter. Long-distance observations of Jupiter's
outer moon Callirrhoe as a navigation exercise.[235]
February 28, 2007: Jupiter flyby. Closest approach occurred at 05:43:40 UTC at
2.305 million km, 21.219 km/s.[236]

Pluto pre-encounter phase


June 8, 2008: The probe passed Saturn's orbit 9.5 AU from Earth.[236][237]
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.[238][239][240]
February 25, 2010: New Horizons completed 2.38 billion km (1.48 billion mi), half the total
travel distance of 4.76 billion km (2.96 billion mi).[241]
March 18, 2011: The probe passes Uranus' orbit. This is the fourth planetary orbit the
spacecraft crossed since its start. New Horizons reached Uranus's orbit at
22:00 UTC.[242][243]
December 2, 2011: New Horizons draws closer to Pluto than any other spacecraft has ever
been. Previously, Voyager 1 held the record for the closest approach. (~10.58 AU)[244]
February 11, 2012: New Horizons reaches the distance of 10 AU from the Pluto system, at
around 4:55 UTC.[245]
July 1, 2013: New Horizons captures its first image of Charon. Charon is clearly separated
from Pluto using the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI).[246][247]
October 25, 2013: New Horizons reaches the distance of 5 AU from the Pluto
system.[245][248]
July 10, 2014: Photos of Neptune and Triton from about 4 billion km away.[249]
July 20, 2014: Photos of Pluto and Charon. Images obtained showing both bodies orbiting
each other, distance 2.8 AU.[250]
August 25, 2014: The probe passes Neptune's orbit. This was the fifth planetary orbit
crossed.[251]
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.[121][122]
January 2015: Observation of Kuiper belt object 2011 KW48. Distant observations from a
distance of roughly 75 million km (~0.5 AU)[252]
January 15, 2015: Start of Pluto observations. New Horizons is now close enough to Pluto
and begins observing the system.[253][254]
March 10–11, 2015: New Horizons reaches a distance of 1 AU from the Pluto system.[255]
March 20, 2015: NASA invites the general public to suggest names for surface features that
may be discovered on Pluto and Charon.[256]
May 15, 2015: Images exceed best Hubble Space Telescope resolution.

Pluto science phase


July 14, 2015: Flyby of the Pluto system: Pluto, Charon, Hydra, Nix, 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.[257]


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 of the downlink is limited
to 1–2 kb/s,[148] so it took until October 25, 2016, to transmit all the data.[16][258][259][260]

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.[177][261]
November 2, 2015: Observation of KBO 15810 Arawn. Long-range observations from a
distance of 274 million kilometers (1.83 AU), 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 179 million kilometers (1.20 AU) as well.[262]
July 13–14, 2016: Observation of KBO 50000 Quaoar. Long-range observations from a
distance of 2.1 billion kilometers (14 AU) gives mission scientists a different perspective in
order to study the light-scattering properties of Quaoar's surface.[263]
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.[264][177]
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.[265] From now until its naming in November 2019, the object's official designation is
to be (486958) 2014 MU69.
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.[192][266][267]
December 9, 2017: Trajectory correction maneuver. This delays the arrival at Arrokoth by a
few hours, optimizing coverage by ground-based radio telescopes.[268][269]
December 23, 2017 – June 4, 2018: Final hibernation period before the (KBO) Arrokoth
encounter.[270][268]
August 2018 – March 2019: Distant observations of at least a dozen distant KBOs.
Recovered by Subaru Telescope in 2014–2017, enabling New Horizons observations[181]
August 13, 2018: Switch from spin stabilization to 3-axis stabilization.[268]
August 16, 2018 – December 24, 2018: Approach phase. Optical navigation, search for
hazardous material around Arrokoth[268]
August 16, 2018: First detection of Kuiper belt object Arrokoth[200]
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[268]

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.[203]
January 9, 2019: Switch from 3-axis stabilization to spin stabilization. This ended the
Arrokoth flyby, marking the beginning of the downlink phase.[268]
2019–2020: Downlink of data from the Arrokoth flyby. Predicted to take approximately 20
months.[268]
November 12, 2019: The object previously known by the provisional designation of
2014 MU69 (later numbered 486958 and nicknamed Ultima Thule) was officially named
Arrokoth.[271]
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.[272]
April 15, 2021: New Horizons reaches 50 AU from the Sun, becoming the fifth spacecraft to
reach the milestone. From that distance, the probe takes a photograph of Voyager 1 in the
distance.[273]
April 30, 2021: End of the first extended mission.[268]
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 [and use] its
instruments to understand the motions of charged particles as they interact with the solar
wind, and to understand our heliosphere's large-scale structure."[274]
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.[275][276] After the flyby, the spacecraft was left with 11 kg (24 lb)
of fuel.[277]
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.[278][276]

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.[219]
See also
2006 in spaceflight
Exploration of Pluto
List of artificial objects leaving the Solar System
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 11
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 2

Notes
a. Confirmation that New Horizons exited hibernation was received by ground stations at
06:12 UTC. Spacecraft Event Time is calculated by subtracting the one-way light-travel time
(5 hours, 38 minutes, 38 seconds) from Earth-received time.[196]
b. 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.
c. The Parker Solar Probe is expected to beat this record at its next perihelion in April 2019.
Following several more gravity assists at Venus, the spacecraft is expected to reach a
maximum speed at perihelion of approximately 200 km/s (720,000 km/h; 450,000 mph) on
December 24, 2024.[222]

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Further reading
Guo, Yanping; Farquhar, Robert W. (February 2005). "New Horizons Pluto–Kuiper Belt
mission: design and simulation of the Pluto–Charon encounter" (http://www.boulder.swri.ed
u/~tcase/Guo_Acta56_2005.pdf) (PDF). Acta Astronautica. 56 (3): 421–429.
Bibcode:2005AcAau..56..421G (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005AcAau..56..421G).
doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2004.05.076 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.actaastro.2004.05.076).
Neufeld, Michael J. (November 2012). "First Mission to Pluto: Policy, Politics, Science, and
Technology in the Origins of New Horizons, 1989–2003" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150
907015621/https://airandspace.si.edu/blogmedia/neufeld-new-horizons-2015.pdf) (PDF).
Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences. 44 (3): 234–276. doi:10.1525/hsns.2014.44.3.234
(https://doi.org/10.1525%2Fhsns.2014.44.3.234). Archived from the original (https://airandsp
ace.si.edu/blogmedia/neufeld-new-horizons-2015.pdf) (PDF) on September 7, 2015.
Russell, Christopher T. (2009). New Horizons: Reconnaissance of the Pluto-Charon System
and the Kuiper Belt. Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-89517-8.
Stern, Alan; Grinspoon, David (2018). Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission
to Pluto. Picador. ISBN 978-125009896-2.

External links
New Horizons website (https://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons/) by NASA
New Horizons website (http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/) by the Applied Physics Laboratory
New Horizons profile (https://web.archive.org/web/20160205053300/http://solarsystem.nasa.
gov/missions/newhorizons) by NASA's Planetary Science Division
New Horizons profile (https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2006-00
1A) by the National Space Science Data Center
New Horizons Flyby (http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Where-to-Watch.php) of Ultima
Thule – Best Places to Follow Future News.
New Horizons Flyby (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Jm5POCAj8) – Musical Tribute
by astrophysicist Brian May (who consulted on the project[1]) and the band Queen.
New Horizons Mission Archive (https://pdssbn.astro.umd.edu/data_sb/missions/newhorizon
s/index.shtml) at the NASA Planetary Data System, Small Bodies Node
New Horizons: Kuiper Belt Extended Mission (KEM) Mission Archive (https://pdssbn.astro.u
md.edu/data_sb/missions/nh-kem/index.shtml) at the NASA Planetary Data System, Small
Bodies Node

1. "NASA Gets Some Help From Guitarist Brian May On Its New Horizons Probe (https://www.
npr.org/2019/01/02/681535239/queen-guitarist-brian-may-contributes-to-nasa-s-new-horizon
s-probe)", NPR, aired January 2, 2019.

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