Post on 15-Sep-2020
New Horizons Pluto/KB Mission Status Report for OPAG
PI Alan Stern SwRI
New Horizons/New Frontiers 1
Pluto-Charon July 2015
KBOs 2016-2020
Jupiter System Feb-March 2007
Launch Jan 2006
NH SPACECRAFT AND PAYLOAD
2.1 meters Science Team: PI: Alan Stern Fran Bagenal Rick Binzel Bonnie Buratti Andy Cheng Dale Cruikshank Randy Gladstone Will Grundy Dave Hinson Mihaly Horanyi Don Jennings Ivan Linscott Jeff Moore Dave McComas Bill McKinnon Ralph McNutt Scott Murchie Cathy Olkin Carolyn Porco Harold Reitsema Dennis Reuter John Spencer Darrell Strobel Mike Summers Len Tyler Hal Weaver Leslie Young Both spacecraft and payload are performing well.
HIGH PAYLOAD FUNTIONAL REDUNDANCY
WITH A BEVY OF NEW
SCIENCE
JUPITER SUCCESS!
Crossed Uranus orbit 2011-March-18 (Same day MESSENGER entered Mercury orbit)
Crossing Neptune orbit 2014-August-25 (Exactly 25 years after Voyager 2/Triton)
Pluto Closest Approach 2015-July-14 (Exactly 50 years after Mariner 4/Mars)
PLUTO SYSTEM ENCOUNTER: SCIENCE OBJECTIVES
ENCOUNTER GEOMETRY AND NOMENCLATURE
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec AP1! AP2! DP2! DP3!
AP3! DP1!NEP!
2015
AP - Approach Phase, DP - Departure Phase, NEP – Near Encounter Phase
MISSION STATUS • New Horizons is healthy and remains on track
– The science objectives should be achieved or exceeded • Nix, Hydra, Kerberus (P4), and Styx (P5) added (new discoveries) • More data to be collected than originally planned (~7x larger)
– Robust encounter timeline with built-in redundancy to ensure success – Largely complete.
• Encounter Rehearsals Completed – Most intense 22 hr flyby segment successfully conducted in May 2012
(“stress test”) – P-7 to P+2 “Core Sequence” just completed successfully (July 5-14)!
• Hazard Concerns Largely Mitigated (see next slides)
• Conducting intensive search for KBOs that are targetable by New Horizons during extended mission – Using large ground based telescopes with Hubble follow-up
PLUTO’S PLETHORA OF SATELLITES: GOOD NEWS AND BAD
Hubble: May 2005 Hubble: July 2012 Pluto + 5 Moons With Names!
Six for the price of one, but with strings attached. Where there are small satellites, there will be debris. A collision between mm-sized particles and the NH spacecraft moving at ~14 km/s could result in a loss of mission, but we think NH is safe on current trajectory.
Names: P4 = Kerberus, P5 = Styx
CONCERNS
• Impact Hazards Owing to Satellite Ejecta in the System – Largely mitigated: Probability of LOM is estimated now at <0.3% – Two alternate encounters being planned (“SHBOTs”)
• Pluto heliocentric ephemeris error – Recent analysis shows systematic error in ephemeris derived from
visible light astrometry – This is a KBO accessibility (propellant) risk, not a mission risk – Plan to use ALMA to measure Pluto’s position relative to quasars – Reanalysis of Lowell historical plates will also help
Triton & Pluto At Best HST Resolution
Triton from Voyager
Charon Detection July 2013
TYAN
Next Week, At APL
Registration remains open! http://plutoscience.jhuapl.edu
Backups
CRUISE 1: TO JUPITER L+60
(9wks) Instrument Calibration, Commissioning, MVIC OpNav(L+165), Interference test
5x8 2x8 5x8 2x8 3x8 2,7,9,5,3,3,3x8h/wk 2x8h/wk 3x8h/wk 2x8h/wk 7x8 3x8
Solar Conjunction DOY 323-331
L+365
(5wks) Instrument Calibration & Commissioning 3A
90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330
Instr. Comm. (4wks)
PS-Hibernation PS-Normal PS-TCM
AS-Normal AS-TCM AS-EA AS-SA
3A-Normal 3A-Encounter 3A-TCM
L+75 CDH 3.5 load
L+305 (DOY286) Autonomy Rel. 14
L+211 (DOY 230) CDH 4.1 load
L+253 (DOY 272) GC 4.0 load
L+ 64 Autonomy Rel. 12d
L+ 106 Autonomy Rel. 12e
3A-Enc mode c/o
Autonomy Rel. 13 (DOY 188)
Instrument Calibration & Commissioning Spin Mode
Instrument Calibration & Commissioning Spin Mode
CRUISE 2: ACROSS THE DEEP
PS-Hibernation PS-Normal PS-TCM
AS-Normal AS-TCM AS-EA AS-SA
3A-Normal 3A-Encounter 3A-TCM
2014 (6/14-8/14) Annual c/o8 TCM 15
Weekly Beacon, monthly TM. contact in PS-H. 2-3x8h/wk for Annual C/O 7x 8h/d for Precess TCMs in 3A-TCM or AS-TCM
P-200
2008 (9/08-12/08) Annual c/o 2
J+120
Precess 11/20/07
Precess 12/27/07
Precess 12/18/08
2007 (9/07-11/07) Annual c/o 1
2010 (9/10-11/10) Annual c/o 4 TCM 11 (P-5y)
2009 (9/09-11/09) Annual c/o 3
2011 (9/11-11/11) Annual c/o 5
2012 (6/12-8/12) Annual c/o 6 TCM 13 (P-3y)
2013 (6/13-8/13) Annual c/o 7 Enc Rehearsal
Precess 06/11/10
Precess 11/25/11
Precess 12/10/10
OpNavs last annual c/o: 1 every 12hrs for 7 days
Precess 05/29/08
Precess 06/09/09
Precess 12/13/09
Precess 06/15/11
P-1yr
Phase in PS-H
MID CRUISE
SHBOT TRAJECTORIES
CLOSEST APPROACH
0.24°
Sun!Earth!
Hydra
Pluto
Nix
Charon
New Horizons Trajectory Pluto C/A 11:50:00 13,695 km 13.78 km/s
Charon C/A 12:04:00 29,432 km 13.87 km/s
Pluto-Sun Occultation 12:51:28
Charon-Sun Occultation 14:17:50
Pluto-Earth Occultation 12:52:30 15:00
11:00
• S/C trajectory time ticks: 10 min • Occultation: center time • Position and lighting at Pluto C/A • Distance relative to body center
Orbit Period a Charon 6.4 d 19,571 km Nix 24.9 d 48,675 km Hydra 38.2 d 64,780 km
12:00
13:00
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