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The NASA’s New Horizons is an interplanetary flyby reconnaissance mission, approved in 2001 under
its New Frontiers Program. The spacecraft will study and investigate the geology, surface
composition, and atmosphere of Pluto and its moon Charon over a 5-month period beginning in
early 2015 and will study other objects in the Kuiper Belt(more than one) [1]. It is the first mission to
Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, launched on January 19, 2006; it swung past Jupiter for a gravity boost
and scientific studies on February 2007, and conducted reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its
moons in summer 2015, culminating with Pluto closest approach on July 14, 2015 [2]. The probe left
Earth on a solar system escape trajectory travelling at ~16.5km/s and gained a gravity boost by
Jupiter to accelerate to ~22.8km/s, but still it would have approximately nine years to travel to its
target. The spacecraft also heads farther into the Kuiper Belt to examine one or two of the ancient,
icy mini-worlds in that vast region, at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit. [3]
New Horizons is designed, built and is operated by John Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory (APL). Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is the principle investigator. SwRI is
responsible for science payload operations, data reduction and archiving, and participates in the
science team [4].
Keywords Pluto ◦ Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) ◦ New Horizons
Mission Overview
New Horizons is NASA’s first mission in the New Frontiers series of medium- class, robotic planetary
exploration mission. New Frontiers Program represents a critical step in the advancement of solar
system exploration [5]. The “Pluto-Kuiper Belt” early mission design concept evolved and became a
part of the New Horizons mission, let by Principal Investigator Alan Stern of the SwRI [6].
Objectives
The mission‘s science objectives are categorized into three groups i.e. Group 1, 2 and 3.
Group 1 objectives represent an irreducible floor for the mission science goals and therefore termed
as required. Group 2 goals add further depth and breadth to the Group 1 objectives and are termed
as highly desirable. Group 3 objectives add further depth and are termed desirable, but have low
priority than the Group 2 objectives. The objectives are described as follows [1]:
Group 1: Required-Primary
Characterize the global geology and morphology of Pluto and Charon
Map surface composition of Pluto and
Charon Characterize the neutral atmosphere of Pluto and its escape rate
Group 2: Highly Desired- Secondary
Characterize the time variability of Pluto's surface and atmosphere
Image Pluto and Charon in stereo
Map the terminators of Pluto and Charon with high resolution
Map the surface composition of selected areas of Pluto and Charon at high resolution
Characterize Pluto's ionosphere and solar wind interaction
Search for neutral atmospheric species including H, H2, HCN, & CxHy, and other
hydrocarbons and Search for an atmosphere around Charon
Determine bolometric Bond albedos for Pluto and Charon
Map the surface temperatures of Pluto and Charon
Group 3: Desirable- Tertiary
Characterize the energetic particle environment of Pluto and Charon
Refine bulk parameters (radii, masses, densities) and orbits of Pluto and Charon
Search for additional satellites and rings
Spacecraft
Timeline
References
[1] Y. G. a. R. W. Farquhar, “NEW HORIZONS MISSION DESIGN FOR THE PLUTO-KUIPER BELT
MISSION”.
[4] NASA, “New Horizons: The First Mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper Belt,” [Online].
Available: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/overview/index.html.