Author Topic: New Horizons updates  (Read 375616 times)

Offline Star One

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13997
  • UK
  • Liked: 3974
  • Likes Given: 220
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #380 on: 11/07/2017 06:46 am »
Someone please help NASA come up with a better name for New Horizons’ next space target

Quote
Now, you can suggest nicknames on a website hosted by the SETI Institute of Mountain View, California. But don’t worry, this won’t turn into another Boaty McBoatface situation. Members of the public can nominate names, and then officials will select their favorite submissions and put them up for vote. People can also check to see which names are getting the most love over the next month.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/6/16614722/nasa-new-horizons-spacecraft-pluto-2014-mu69-nickname-flyby

Offline Zed_Noir

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5490
  • Canada
  • Liked: 1809
  • Likes Given: 1302
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #381 on: 11/08/2017 02:45 am »
Someone please help NASA come up with a better name for New Horizons’ next space target

Quote
Now, you can suggest nicknames on a website hosted by the SETI Institute of Mountain View, California. But don’t worry, this won’t turn into another Boaty McBoatface situation. Members of the public can nominate names, and then officials will select their favorite submissions and put them up for vote. People can also check to see which names are getting the most love over the next month.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/6/16614722/nasa-new-horizons-spacecraft-pluto-2014-mu69-nickname-flyby

;D Colbert's Lair ;D

Offline jebbo

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 940
  • Cambridge, UK
  • Liked: 608
  • Likes Given: 309
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #382 on: 11/08/2017 07:22 am »
As it looks like it is probably a binary, Eric Berger has nominated "Carolyn & Eugene", which I think would be a fitting tribute to their immense contribution.

--- Tony

Offline Star One

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13997
  • UK
  • Liked: 3974
  • Likes Given: 220
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #383 on: 12/09/2017 09:11 pm »
Quote
AlanStern
@AlanStern
BURN SUCCESSFUL! New Horizons has reported a good trajectory maneuver today in the Kuiper Belt— MU69, here we come! #PlutoFlyby

https://mobile.twitter.com/AlanStern/status/939568046053605376

Offline Star One

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13997
  • UK
  • Liked: 3974
  • Likes Given: 220
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #384 on: 12/12/2017 07:32 pm »
Quote
Jeff Foust
@jeff_foust
Marc Buie, in New Horizons briefing at #AGU17: think MU69 is a contact binary, with a small moon orbiting it that was seen in SOFIA occultation but not in later Argentina observations.

https://mobile.twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/940638473459060736

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48176
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 81673
  • Likes Given: 36940
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #385 on: 12/13/2017 10:56 am »
Write-up by BBC Science Correspondent, Jonathan Amos:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42333783
« Last Edit: 12/13/2017 11:02 am by FutureSpaceTourist »

Online redliox

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2539
  • Illinois USA
  • Liked: 683
  • Likes Given: 97
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #386 on: 12/13/2017 03:16 pm »
Write-up by BBC Science Correspondent, Jonathan Amos:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42333783

I'm glad 'Horizons' next target is proving to be more interesting than expected.

Assuming the moonlet is confirmed at in indeed orbits between 200-300 km from MU69, would the 3500 km planned for the flyby still be sufficiently safe?
"Let the trails lead where they may, I will follow."
-Tigatron

Offline Targeteer

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6153
  • near hangar 18
  • Liked: 3364
  • Likes Given: 1138
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #387 on: 12/16/2017 10:39 pm »
Quote
AlanStern
@AlanStern
BURN SUCCESSFUL! New Horizons has reported a good trajectory maneuver today in the Kuiper Belt— MU69, here we come! #PlutoFlyby

https://mobile.twitter.com/AlanStern/status/939568046053605376

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20171209


December 9, 2017

New Horizons Corrects Its Course in the Kuiper Belt

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft carried out a short, 2.5-minute engine burn on Saturday, Dec. 9 that refined its course toward 2014 MU69, the ancient Kuiper Belt object it will fly by a little more than a year from now.

Setting a record for the farthest spacecraft course correction to date, the engine burn also adjusted the arrival time at MU69 to optimize flyby science.

Telemetry confirming that the maneuver went as planned reached the New Horizons mission operations center around 1 p.m. EST at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, via NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) stations in Goldstone, California. The radio signals carrying the data traveled over 3.8 billion miles (6.1 billion kilometers) and took five hours and 41 minutes to reach Earth at the speed of light.

Operating by timed commands stored on its computer, New Horizons fired its thrusters for 152 seconds, adjusting its velocity by about 151 centimeters per second, a little more than three miles per hour. The maneuver both refined the course toward and optimized the flyby arrival time at MU69, by setting closest approach to 12:33 a.m. EST (5:33 UTC) on Jan. 1, 2019. The prime flyby distance is set at 2,175 miles (3,500 kilometers); the timing provides better visibility for DSN's powerful antennas to reflect radar waves off the surface of MU69 for New Horizons to receive – a difficult experiment that, if it succeeds, will help scientists determine the reflectivity and roughness of MU69's surface.

Today's maneuver was the last trajectory correction during the spacecraft's long "cruise" between Pluto, which it flew past in July 2015, and the MU69 flyby. New Horizons Mission Design Lead Yanping Guo, of APL, said the next course-correction opportunity comes in October 2018, at the start of the MU69 approach phase. The mission team is using data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Gaia mission to hone its aim toward MU69, which was discovered in 2014.

"We are on course and getting more excited all the time; this flyby is now barely a year away!" said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado.

The mission team will put the New Horizons spacecraft into hibernation mode on Dec. 21, where it will stay until early next June. The spacecraft is healthy and speeding away from the Sun at 31,786 miles (51,156 kilometers) per hour, or over 750,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) per day.
« Last Edit: 12/16/2017 10:39 pm by Targeteer »
Best quote heard during an inspection, "I was unaware that I was the only one who was aware."

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48176
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 81673
  • Likes Given: 36940
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #388 on: 12/22/2017 12:14 pm »
Quote
December 21, 2017
New Horizons Enters Last Hibernation Period Before Kuiper Belt Encounter

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has entered its last hibernation phase before its January 2019 encounter with Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69.

Mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, verified that New Horizons – acting on commands uplinked to its main computer the week before – went into its hibernation mode today at 9:31 a.m. EST. With the spacecraft now about 3.8 billion miles (nearly 6.2 billion kilometers) from Earth, the radio signals carrying that confirmation message from New Horizons needed five hours and 42 minutes – traveling at the speed of light – to reach the APL mission operations center through NASA's Deep Space Network station near Madrid, Spain.

This hibernation period will last until June 4, 2018. While the spacecraft hibernates the mission team will continue to plan the detailed sequences that will tell New Horizons how to make the many planned scientific observations of MU69 during its close-range pass in the days surrounding Jan. 1, 2019.

After June 4 the spacecraft will stay "awake" until late 2020, long after the MU69 flyby, when all of the data from that flyby have reached Earth.

Follow New Horizons' path through the Kuiper Belt at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Mission/Where-is-New-Horizons/index.php.

A Hibernation Refresher:
During hibernation mode, much of the New Horizons spacecraft is unpowered. The onboard flight computer monitors system health and broadcasts a weekly beacon-status tone back to Earth, and about once a month sends home data on spacecraft health and safety. An onboard sequence sent in advance by mission controllers will eventually wake New Horizons to check out critical systems, gather new Kuiper Belt science data, and perform course corrections (if necessary).

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20171221

Photo caption:

Quote
In the New Horizons Mission Operations Center at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, (from left) Anisha Hosadurga, Graeme Keleher and Daniel Hals watch for telemetry indicating the New Horizons spacecraft had successfully entered hibernation mode on Dec. 21. (Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute)

Online Chris Bergin

Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #389 on: 01/01/2018 04:55 pm »
FEATURE ARTICLE: Year In Review 2017 (Part 4): One year to New Horizons’ flyby of MU69 - https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/01/yir-2017-part-4-one-year-new-horizons-flyby-mu69/

- By Chris Gebhardt

Lead Render by Nathan Koga for NSF L2
Support NSF via L2 -- Help improve NSF -- Site Rules/Feedback/Updates
**Not a L2 member? Whitelist this forum in your adblocker to support the site and ensure full functionality.**

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48176
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 81673
  • Likes Given: 36940
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #390 on: 01/06/2018 04:26 pm »
Quote
Homing in! Today New Horizons is crossing the 3 AU marker, inbound to intercept our KBO 2014 MU69 at New Years 2019! #PlutoFlyby

https://twitter.com/alanstern/status/949637433028562945

Offline Star One

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13997
  • UK
  • Liked: 3974
  • Likes Given: 220
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #391 on: 01/08/2018 08:06 pm »
Plot thickens as New Horizons moves within year of next flyby

Quote
The final days before NASA’s New Horizons probe barrels in on its next destination on Jan. 1, 2019, should prove eventful, with scientists trying to sort out whether a distant mini-world detected by the Hubble Space Telescope more than three years ago may actually be a swarm of icy objects.

https://astronomynow.com/2018/01/06/plot-thickens-as-new-horizons-moves-within-year-of-next-flyby/

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48176
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 81673
  • Likes Given: 36940
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #392 on: 01/15/2018 08:13 pm »
Quote
Just got word-- GREEN BEACON received from New Horizons! All's well in the Kuiper Belt! #PlutoFlyby

https://twitter.com/alanstern/status/953010023457845249

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48176
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 81673
  • Likes Given: 36940
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #393 on: 01/16/2018 03:24 pm »
Quote
The @NASAVoyager and @NewHorizons2015 teams are having a joint meeting today to see how we can best explore the deep heliosphere together! #NASA

https://twitter.com/AlanStern/status/953300982867341313

Offline Star One

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13997
  • UK
  • Liked: 3974
  • Likes Given: 220
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #394 on: 01/29/2018 07:57 pm »

Offline leovinus

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1095
  • Porto, Portugal
  • Liked: 867
  • Likes Given: 1727
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #395 on: 02/01/2018 09:23 pm »
"New Horizons prepares for encounter with 2014 MU69"
Update from Emily Lakdawalla @ The Planetary Society
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2018/0124-new-horizons-prepares-for-2014mu69.html

Offline Star One

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13997
  • UK
  • Liked: 3974
  • Likes Given: 220

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48176
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 81673
  • Likes Given: 36940
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #397 on: 02/19/2018 11:46 am »
Quote
THIS JUST IN! New Horizons has sent a green beacon back from the Kuiper Belt-- all's well aboard our intrepid explorer! #PlutoFlyby

https://twitter.com/AlanStern/status/965565898512777216

Online FutureSpaceTourist

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48176
  • UK
    • Plan 28
  • Liked: 81673
  • Likes Given: 36940
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #398 on: 02/25/2018 07:33 am »
Great extended (over 35 mins) interview with Alan Stern on TMRO. Interview starts at about 25:40


Offline flyright

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 495
  • Denver, Colorado
  • Liked: 716
  • Likes Given: 1882
Re: New Horizons updates
« Reply #399 on: 02/26/2018 12:04 am »
The interview with Alan Stern is fun to listen to. Its a good summary of all the complex and hard work that preceded the exciting discoveries at Pluto.
Now looking forward to New Years Day, 2019 and flyby of 2014 MU69.
(Dr Stern said they'll find a better name for 2014 MU69 before then)
 :)

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
0