Deborah & William Hillyard
Deborah & William Hillyard
Deborah & William Hillyard
Deborah & William Hillyard
Deborah & William Hillyard
Home Page • News, Views & Info • Our Families • Vacations • Biographies • House • Music & Studio • Physics • Astronomy & Cosmology • Solar Systems • Pseudo-Science
Solar System -
Trans-Neptunian Objects
The New Horizons mission is heading to the dwarf planet Pluto, and its companion Charon, and then on into the Kuiper belt. It was launched on January 19, 2006 on an Atlas V 551 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base. There have been a number of probes to the rocky inner planets, Mercury, Venus and Mars, as well as to the outer gas and ice giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. This is the first mission to the trans-Neptunian region of our Solar System. The New Horizons is due to rendezvous with the Pluto/Charon/Hydra/Nix system, as well as the newly discovered moon "P4", in 2015, and then go on to visit other, as yet unidentified, Kuiper belt objects.
It passed by Jupiter on February 28, 2007, crossed Saturn's orbit on June 8, 2008, and crossed Uranus' orbit on March 18th 2011. It is due to cross Neptune's orbit on August 25th 2014 before an approach within 6,200 miles of Pluto and 17,000 miles of Charon on July 14, 2015. As at 26 April 2011, New Horizons is about 19.34 AU, or about 2.9 billion km, or 1.8 billion miles or 2.69 light-hours, from Earth.
Since December 29, 2009, it is closer to Pluto than it is to the Earth. You can track its progress through the solar system at the Where is New Horizons website. The maps are updated hourly.
It passed by Jupiter on February 28, 2007, crossed Saturn's orbit on June 8, 2008, and crossed Uranus' orbit on March 18th 2011. It is due to cross Neptune's orbit on August 25th 2014 before an approach within 6,200 miles of Pluto and 17,000 miles of Charon on July 14, 2015. As at 26 April 2011, New Horizons is about 19.34 AU, or about 2.9 billion km, or 1.8 billion miles or 2.69 light-hours, from Earth.
Since December 29, 2009, it is closer to Pluto than it is to the Earth. You can track its progress through the solar system at the Where is New Horizons website. The maps are updated hourly.
New Horizons Mission
An artistic impression of the New Horizons probe arriving at Pluto with its companion, Charon, in the background.
Credit: NASA
Credit: NASA
Artist impression of the New Horizons probe arriving at Pluto & Charon.
Credit: NFRANGA
Credit: NFRANGA
Images
The New Horizons spacecraft in the clean room prior to launch. The nuclear power source (the "Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator" ; tthe black device on the left) is a mock-up.
At the time of the launch, Pluto was still classified as the ninth planet in the Solar System before its demotion to dwarf planet status in August of 2006.
Pluto's two small moons Nix and Hydra, both discovered in 2005 shortly before the launch, were given these names to have the same initials as New Horizons, as well as for their relationship to Pluto in mythology.
Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered Pluto on February 18, 1930, and one ounce of his ashes are on board the spacecraft.
Pluto's name was given by a then eleven year old child named Venetia Burney (later Venetia Phair), who lived in Oxford, UK. An experiment on New Horizons, the Student Dust Counter, is named Venetia after her. Also, in 1878, it was her maternal great uncle Henry Madan who suggested calling Mars' moons Phobos & Deimos. She died in 2009.
Pluto's two small moons Nix and Hydra, both discovered in 2005 shortly before the launch, were given these names to have the same initials as New Horizons, as well as for their relationship to Pluto in mythology.
Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered Pluto on February 18, 1930, and one ounce of his ashes are on board the spacecraft.
Pluto's name was given by a then eleven year old child named Venetia Burney (later Venetia Phair), who lived in Oxford, UK. An experiment on New Horizons, the Student Dust Counter, is named Venetia after her. Also, in 1878, it was her maternal great uncle Henry Madan who suggested calling Mars' moons Phobos & Deimos. She died in 2009.
Interesting Facts
Menu: