I'm genuinely surprised and impressed that NH even has any propellent left after the burn to intercept MU69!
Quote from: Ben the Space Brit on 06/18/2018 06:26 pmI'm genuinely surprised and impressed that NH even has any propellent left after the burn to intercept MU69!IIRC when they were evaluating the two possible post-Pluto targets, they chose this one specifically because it gave them better fuel margins for contingencies. So the fact that they have fuel left over is "by design".
Quote from: cscott on 06/19/2018 07:15 pmQuote from: Ben the Space Brit on 06/18/2018 06:26 pmI'm genuinely surprised and impressed that NH even has any propellent left after the burn to intercept MU69!IIRC when they were evaluating the two possible post-Pluto targets, they chose this one specifically because it gave them better fuel margins for contingencies. So the fact that they have fuel left over is "by design". Yep. One the other targets was larger, but there was something like a 5% chance they'd have fuel issues there.
The New Horizons Kuiper Belt Extended MissionS.A. Stern, H.A. Weaver, J.R. Spencer, H.A. Elliott, the New Horizons Team(Submitted on 21 Jun 2018)The central objective of the New Horizons prime mission was to make the first exploration of Pluto and its system of moons. Following that, New Horizons has been approved for its first extended mission, which has the objectives of extensively studying the Kuiper Belt environment, observing numerous Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and Centaurs in unique ways, and making the first close flyby of the KBO 486958 2014 MU69. This review summarizes the objectives and plans for this approved mission extension, and briefly looks forward to potential objectives for subsequent extended missions by New Horizons. Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)DOI: 10.1007/s11214-018-0507-4Cite as: arXiv:1806.08393 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1806.08393v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
August 4, 2018New Horizons Team Reports Initial Success in Observing Ultima ThuleUsing telescopes to watch the distant Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule pass in front of star on Aug. 3-4, observing teams in Senegal and Colombia report that they've gathered data on New Horizons' next flyby target.Observing the object is a crucial step, but only the first. The team has weeks of data analysis ahead. "We have lots of work to do," said Marc Buie, the New Horizons co-investigator from Southwest Research Institute who leads the observation campaign. "We all fought weather issues [in Senegal and Colombia] but prevailed anyway. The observing teams are due a huge amount of thanks for their efforts."The New Horizons team is using stellar occultation observations to gather information about the size, shape, environment and other conditions around Ultima Thule. These data are critical to planning the mission's flyby of the object on Jan. 1, 2019.Read here about the preparations for the observation campaign.Watch this timelapse video of observation rehearsals from New Horizons team member Simon Porter.Gathering occultation data is a difficult task. Read here about the successful campaign to gather initial data on Ultima in 2017.
New Horizons Spacecraft Sees Possible Hydrogen Wall at the End of the Solar SystemRyan F. MandelbaumFriday 4:42pmAs it speeds away from the Sun, the New Horizons mission may be approaching a “wall.”The New Horizons spacecraft, now at a distance nearly four billion miles from Earth and already far beyond Pluto, has measured what appears to be a signature of the furthest reaches of the Sun’s energy—a wall of hydrogen. It nearly matches the same measurement made by the Voyager mission 30 years ago, and offers more information as to the furthest limits of our Sun’s reach.
3.79 billion miles away in the inky blackness of space, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft snapped two pictures and transmitted those images back to Earth. New Horizons’s December 2017 photoshoot now holds the record of being the farthest away a camera has ever been from our planet. The previous record was the famous ‘Pale Blue Dot’ image, taken by the probe Voyager 1 when it was 3.75 billion miles away in 1990.New Horizons used its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) to photograph two objects in the Kuiper belt, a cluster of dwarf planets — including Pluto — and space rocks at the fringe of our solar system. The Kuiper belt contains celestial leftovers from the birth our solar system. So while the images of 2012 HZ84 (on the left) and 2012 HE85 might not look like much, they can provide insights into the beginnings of our solar system.
The spacecraft was just 108 million miles (174 billion kilometers) from Ultima, officially named 2014 MU69.
Quote from: Star One on 08/22/2018 08:16 pmThe spacecraft was just 108 million miles (174 billion kilometers) from Ultima, officially named 2014 MU69.Major discovery, metric conversions get all screwy out past the planets.
... Ultima, officially named 2014 MU69.
AS OF TODAY (!), New Horizons is just 1 Astronomical Unit (AU) to our next target, the KBO Ultima Thule (aka 2014 MU69)! And we're homing in to be there and explore it on New Years Eve and New Years Day! Mark your calendars and join us!
Nasa's New Horizons probe is on course to flyby the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule this new year, an event that will set the record for the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft, scientists say. The spacecraft has successfully performed the three and half-minute manoeuvre on October 3 to home in on its location, Nasa said in a statement. This slightly tweaked the spacecraft's trajectory and bumped its speed by 2.1 metres per second keeping it on track to fly past Ultima officially named 2014 MU69 - on January 1, 2019.
At 6.6 billion kilometers from Earth, Ultima Thule will be the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft. New Horizons itself was about 6.35 billion kilometres from home when it carried out Wednesday's trajectory correction maneuver (TCM), the farthest course-correction ever performed. This was the first Ultima targeting maneuver that used pictures taken by New Horizons itself to determine the spacecraft's position relative to the Kuiper Belt object.
This was the first Ultima targeting maneuver that used pictures taken by New Horizons itself to determine the spacecraft's position relative to the Kuiper Belt object. These "optical navigation" images - gathered by New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) - provide direct information of Ultima's position relative to New Horizons, and help the team determine where the spacecraft is headed. "The images help to determine the position and timing of the flyby, but we must also trust the prior estimate of Ultima's position and velocity to ensure a successful flyby," said Nelson. The spacecraft is just 112 million kilometres from Ultima, closing in at 51,911 kilometres per hour.
Today, 55 days from Ultima closest approach, NASA HQ held our flyby review. Thanks to an amazing few years of preparation by the entire New Horizons team, we passed the review with flying colors--it could not have gone better! It’s onward now to Ultima!