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Space Topics: New Horizons

New Horizons Mission Facts

New Horizons
Click to enlarge >
Credit: JHUAPL / SwRI

 

Timeline


Launched: January 19, 2006, 2:00pm EST

Jupiter flyby and gravity assist: March 2007

Pluto/Charon Arrival: July - August, 2015

  • Observations will begin 5 months prior to the Pluto/Charon encounter.
  • Daily studies will begin 4 weeks prior to the encounter.
  • Post-encounter studies continue 4 months after the Pluto/Charon encounter.
  • The entire mission dataset will be downloaded 9 months following the encounter.

Kuiper belt object studies (Extended Mission): 2016-2020

New Horizons Pluto encounter timeline for a 2015 arrival
Click to enlarge >
Credit: NASA / JHUAPL
New Horizons Pluto encounter timeline for a 2015 arrival
Click to enlarge >
Credit: NASA / JHUAPL

Spacecraft

Diagram of the New Horizons spacecraft
Click to enlarge >
Diagram of the New Horizons spacecraft
Credit: NASA / JHUAPL

Spacecraft Size

  • Mass: 478 kilograms (1,054 pounds) total; 77 kilograms (170 pounds) hydrazine fuel; 30 kilograms (66 pounds) science instruments
  • Size: 0.7 by 2.1 by 2.7 meters

Spacecraft Communications

  • High-gain antenna: 2.1 meters diameter
  • Data rate: 38 kilobits per second at Jupiter; 0.6 to 1.2 kilobits per second at Pluto
  • Pluto encounter data will take a total of 9 months to transmit.

Power Requirements

  • Power will come from a single radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) containing 11 kilograms (24 pounds) of plutonium dioxide.
  • At the start of the mission, the RTG will provide 240 Watts of energy at 30 volts.  Due to the decay of the plutonium, the power output will decrease at about 3.5 Watts per year.  By July 2015 (the earliest possible Pluto encounter date), the RTG will only be producing 200 Watts.
  • The science instruments collectively draw less than 28 Watts of power.

Planetary Approaches

Jupiter Gravity Assist (March 2007): 2.27 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Jupiter, at 21 kilometers per second (47,000 miles per hour).

Pluto closest approach (earliest, July 2015): 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles) from Pluto at about 14,000 kilometers per second (31,000 miles per hour).

Charon closest approach (at the same time as the Pluto approach): 27,000 kilometers (16,800 miles) from Charon, at about 14,000 kilometers per second (31,300 miles per hour).

Costs

$650 million.  That’s about 20 cents per American, per year.