New Horizons mission
New Horizons space probe
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| Mission type | Flyby (Jupiter · Pluto · 2014 MU69) | ||||||||||||||||
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| Operator | NASA | ||||||||||||||||
| COSPAR ID | 2006-001A | ||||||||||||||||
| SATCAT no. | 28928 | ||||||||||||||||
| Website |
pluto nasa.gov/newhorizons |
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| Mission duration | Primary mission: 9.5 years Elapsed: 11 years, 8 months and 15 days |
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| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | APL / SwRI | ||||||||||||||||
| Launch mass | 478 kg (1,054 lb) | ||||||||||||||||
| Dry mass | 401 kg (884 lb) | ||||||||||||||||
| Payload mass | 30.4 kg (67 lb) | ||||||||||||||||
| Dimensions | 2.2 × 2.1 × 2.7 m (7.2 × 6.9 × 8.9 ft) | ||||||||||||||||
| Power | 228 watts | ||||||||||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||||||||||
| Launch date | January 19, 2006, 19:00 UTC | ||||||||||||||||
| Rocket | Atlas V 551 | ||||||||||||||||
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 | ||||||||||||||||
| Contractor | United Launch Alliance | ||||||||||||||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||||||||||||||
| Eccentricity | 1.41905 | ||||||||||||||||
| Inclination | 2.23014° | ||||||||||||||||
| RAAN | 225.016° | ||||||||||||||||
| Argument of periapsis | 293.445° | ||||||||||||||||
| Epoch | January 1, 2017 (JD 2457754.5) | ||||||||||||||||
| Flyby of (132524) APL (incidental) | |||||||||||||||||
| Closest approach | June 13, 2006, 04:05 UTC | ||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 101,867 km (63,297 mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| Flyby of Jupiter (gravity assist) | |||||||||||||||||
| Closest approach | February 28, 2007, 05:43:40 UTC | ||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 2,300,000 km (1,400,000 mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| Flyby of Pluto | |||||||||||||||||
| Closest approach | July 14, 2015, 11:49:57 UTC | ||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 12,500 km (7,800 mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| Flyby of (486958) 2014 MU69 | |||||||||||||||||
| Closest approach | January 1, 2019 (planned) | ||||||||||||||||
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| Instruments | |
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| Alice | Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer |
| LORRI | Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager |
| SWAP | Solar Wind at Pluto |
| PEPSSI | Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation |
| REX | Radio Science Experiment |
| Ralph | Ralph Telescope |
| SDC | Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter |
New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with a team led by S. Alan Stern, 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. It is the fifth of five artificial objects to achieve the escape velocity that will allow them to leave the Solar System.
On January 19, 2006, New Horizons was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station directly into an Earth-and-solar escape trajectory with a speed of about 16.26 kilometers per second (58,536 km/h; 36,373 mph). 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.
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