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Emily Lakdawalla • Jan 31, 2007
New Horizons Jupiter Encounter Timeline
A year after its launch on January 19, 2006, New Horizons is fast closing in on Jupiter, the first target on its near decade-long journey. On February 28 the spacecraft will approach to within 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) of Jupiter before speeding along on to its way to the edge of the solar system. During the flyby, New Horizons will conduct around 700 separate observations of the giant planet. In addition to providing a gravity assist that shortens New Horizons' journey to Pluto by three years, the flyby serves as a dress rehearsal for the Pluto encounter, which is still more than eight years away. Many of the science observations will serve double duty, revealing new information about Jupiter and its moons at the same time as they test instrument operation modes and sequences for eventual use in the Pluto flyby.
The early part of the Jupiter flyby is dominated by observations with the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), a black-and-white, high-resolution camera. Beginning about a week before closest approach, New Horizons' other science instruments come in to play. Alice is an ultraviolet spectrometer that will be used to capture images and to perform stellar occultations, watching stars pass behind Jupiter and its moons and using the winking starlight to probe their atmospheres. Ralph is a multispectral imager with two components, called MVIC and LEISA, that will study the composition of the surfaces of the moons and peer to some depth in Jupiter's atmosphere. And about once a day, the spacecraft will turn to Earth to relay data to the Deep Space Network, whose giant radio dishes can perform precise tracking of the spacecraft to monitor its trajectory.
Quick links: Feb. 10 - Feb. 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 (closest approach) - Mar. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
| Encounter timeline: January | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| Jan 8 21:42 | -50.33 | Jupiter rotation movie (LORRI) Range 81,622,011 km; phase 9.4°; 3.6°S, 249.8°W As New Horizons approaches Jupiter, it will use its long-range imager to capture six sets of 11 hourly images, which can be assembled into movies showing the planet's rotation and, occasionally, the passage of the Galilean moons in front of and behind the planet. |
| Jan 9 17:42 | -49.50 | Jupiter rotation movie (LORRI) Range 80,415,496 km; phase 9.4°; 3.6°S, 182.7°W |
| Jan 10 04:45 | -49.04 | Callirrhoe optical navigation (LORRI) In a test of New Horizons LORRI's ability to perform optical navigation with a small, dim Kuiper Belt Object as a target, LORRI will observe Jupiter's outer irregular satellite Callirrhoe, a tiny rock 7 kilometers in diameter that orbits about 25 million kilometers from the planet. |
| Jan 14 17:42 | -44.50 | Jupiter rotation movie (LORRI) Range 72,374,456 km; phase 9.6°; 3.6°S, 215.4°W |
| Jan 15 13:42 | -43.67 | Jupiter rotation movie (LORRI) Range 70,967,804 km; phase 9.7°; 3.6°S, 257.1°W |
| Jan 17 01:41 | -42.17 | "Kodak moment": Shadows of Io and Ganymede on Jupiter (LORRI) Range 68,135,166 km; phase 9.7°; 3.6°S, 179.5°W This is the first of seven observations during the encounter, referred to as "Kodak moments," that have been planned entirely for their expected aesthetic value. |
| Jan 20 23:42 | -38.25 | Jupiter rotation movie (LORRI) Range 62,328,754 km; phase 9.8°; 3.6°S, 256.3°W |
| Jan 21 19:42 | -37.42 | Jupiter rotation movie (LORRI) Range 60,922,743 km; phase 9.8°; 3.6°S, 298.0°W |
| Jan 24 04:41 | -35.04 | "Kodak moment": Shadows of Io and Ganymede on Jupiter (LORRI) Range 57,106,831 km; phase 9.8°; 3.7°S, 205.5°W |
| February | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| Feb 10 13:40 | -17.67 | "Kodak moment": Jupiter full disk (LORRI) Range 29,079,744 km; phase 8.7°; 4.0°S, 263.9°W At this distance, Jupiter's globe will entirely fill the field of view of the long-range imager. |
| Feb 22 16:23 | -5.55 | Stellar occultation by Jupiter, ingress (Alice) Range 9,597,585 km; phase 2.4°; 5.2°S, 0.2°W The ultraviolet spectrometer will stare at a bright star as it appears to sink beneath Jupiter's limb. Stellar occultations provide information on the composition, temperature, density, and structure of the upper atmosphere of a planet. |
| Feb 22 23:35 | -5.25 | Stellar occultation by Jupiter, egress (Alice) Range 9,116,194 km; phase 2.9°; 5.3°S, 262.4°W Alice will watch as the same star rises from the limb on the other side of Jupiter. |
| February 24 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 00:40 | -4.21 | Io imaging: Pele on limb (LORRI, Alice) Range 7,856,307 km; phase 4.8°; 5.4°S, 340.2°W Lots of Io imaging is planned in order to check whether the many volcanoes discovered by Voyager and monitored by Galileo are active or dormant, and to search for changes in surface features that may have resulted from volcanic activity in the years since Galileo's demise. Researchers will examine Io's limb to look for telltale plumes signifying volcanic eruptions. |
| 01:35 | -4.17 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 8,071,585 km; phase 6.4°; 5.0°S, 6.6°W Alice will be used repeatedly throughout the encounter to study the sparse atmosphere above Europa. |
| 05:00 | -4.03 | Io approach imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 7,575,510 km; phase 7.4°; 5.5°S, 15.1°W |
| 05:30 | -4.01 | Rings: search for embedded ringmoons (LORRI) Because of its communications problems, Galileo was unable to perform searches for as-yet-undiscovered moons in Jupiter's ring system. New Horizons will perform the most detailed survey of Jupiter's rings to date: LORRI will take 49 images over 8 hours. |
| 13:50 | -3.66 | Io approach imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 6,627,459 km; phase 11.9°; 6.0°S, 84.7°W |
| 14:42 | -3.63 | Turn to Earth for communication session with the DSN New Horizons will spend more than 8 hours pointed at Earth, returning data, which will also permit the DSN to track New Horizons' trajectory. |
| 23:00 | -3.28 | Jupiter Lyman alpha/H3+ airglow map (LEISA, Alice) Range 6,006,808 km; phase 10.8°; 6.2°S, 176.7°W |
| February 25 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 00:00 | -3.24 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 5,927,715 km; phase 17.3°; 6.1°S, 90.5°W |
| 01:00 | -3.20 | Jupiter Lyman alpha/H3+ airglow map (LEISA, Alice) Range 5,894,924 km; phase 11.2°; 6.2°S, 239.6°W The hydrogen-rich atmosphere of Jupiter shows a lot of structure in ultraviolet wavelengths, especially at the Lyman alpha wavelength of 121.6 nanometers. |
| 02:00 | -3.15 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 5,709,637 km; phase 18.0°; 6.2°S, 98.3°W |
| 02:30 | -3.13 | Ring imaging (for phase curve) (LORRI) Range 5,799,275 km; phase 11.7°; ring opening angle 6.3° The light-reflecting properties of the icy and dusty surfaces of the particles in Jupiter's rings are highly dependent upon the phase (illumination angle) at which the observations are performed. LORRI will perform six detailed surveys of the ring system throughout the flyby to build up a detailed data set on how the brightness of the rings changes with changing phase. |
| 05:00 | -3.03 | Io approach imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 5,276,976 km; phase 10.3°; 6.8°S, 215.8°W |
| 05:35 | -3.00 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 5,333,908 km; phase 19.0°; 6.5°S, 112.2°W |
| 08:30 | -2.88 | Io approach imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 5,217,587 km; phase 9.9°; 6.7°S, 243.8°W |
| 09:00 | -2.86 | Ganymede eclipse (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 6,395,720 km; phase 10.8°; 5.5°S, 348.3°W New Horizons will watch with all its instruments as Ganymede's orbit takes it into Jupiter's shadow; eclipse observations are planned for all four of the Galilean satellites. They enable a search for faint auroral emissions where sunlight would otherwise drown them out. Scientists will also be able to deduce some properties of the moons' tenuous atmosphere from the way its temperature drops as the moon's surface suddenly cools. |
| 13:05 | -2.69 | Ring imaging (for phase curve) (LORRI) Range 5,122,003 km; phase 15.2°; ring opening angle 6.6° |
| 14:55 | -2.62 | Io approach imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 5,184,145 km; phase 11.7°; 6.5°S, 297.4°W |
| 17:33 | -2.51 | Callisto spectroscopy vs. phase (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 6,715,734 km; phase 17.7°; 4.7°S, 2.4°W New Horizons' scientists plan to use the shape of water ice features visible in the spectra of Pluto and Charon to map the surface temperatures on those worlds. At Jupiter, they will perform similar observations at Callisto. The Callisto observations will be performed three times at different phase angles (Sun-moon-spacecraft angles). Scientists seek to understand whether properties besides temperature -- such as phase angle -- can affect the shape of the water ice spectral features and confuse their attempts to map temperature. |
| 18:05 | -2.48 | Europa terminator topography (LORRI, Alice) Range 4,179,555 km; phase 19.8°; 7.7°S, 164.4°W New Horizons will target the terminator -- the boundary between day and night -- in order to use long twilight shadows to emphasize subtle topographic features on the smooth moon. |
| 18:35 | -2.46 | Europa composition (anti-Jupiter hemisphere) (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 4,142,772 km; phase 19.8°; 7.7°S, 166.5°W This is one of several surveys designed to fill in gaps in the maps of Jupiter's moons that remain after the end of the Galileo mission. |
| 19:10 | -2.44 | Io eclipse (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 5,104,652 km; phase 15.0°; 6.3°S, 329.9°W |
| 20:44 | -2.37 | Rings: search for embedded ringmoons (LORRI) Range 4,660,658 km; phase 18.4°; ring opening angle 6.9° |
| 23:10 | -2.27 | Rings: search for embedded ringmoons (LORRI) Range 4,509,579 km; phase 19.6°; ring opening angle 6.9° |
| February 26 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 04:05 | -2.07 | Stellar occultation by Io (LORRI, Alice) Range 4,546,235 km; phase 25.34°; 6.6°S, 35.1°W Just as stellar occultations by Jupiter can be used to probe the planet's atmosphere, so can the extended atmosphere around Io and the other Galilean satellites be probed. |
| 04:30 | -2.05 | Rings: search for embedded ringmoons (LORRI) Range 4,183,154 km; phase 22.5°; ring opening angle 7.2° |
| 07:13 | -1.94 | Stellar occultation by Callisto (Alice) Range 5,894,212 km; phase 26.3°; 4.8°S, 5.8°W |
| 08:09 | -1.90 | Ganymede composition (gap fill) (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 4,988,827 km; phase 28.6°; 5.9°S, 18.5°W |
| 08:40 | -1.88 | Io approach imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 4,085,950 km; phase 30.4°; 7.1°S, 68.2°W |
| 09:27 | -1.84 | Turn to Earth for communication session with the DSN New Horizons will spend more than 8 hours pointed at Earth. |
| 17:35 | -1.50 | Jupiter: Little Red Spot near terminator (LORRI) Range 3,457,024 km; phase 31.5°; 7.7°S, 257.2°W New Horizons must study this newly-formed red spot (more officially known as "Oval BA") when it is near the terminator, or day-night boundary, because Jupiter is much brighter than the Kuiper Belt Objects LORRI is designed to study. LORRI can observe Jupiter at its brightest only when it doesn't fill LORRI's detector; if it fills the field, the detector will be saturated, reducing the usefulness of the images. |
| 18:25 | -1.47 | Io high-resolution imaging and composition (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 3,065,158 km; phase 36.2°; 8.6°S, 145.7°W |
| 18:55 | -1.45 | Europa composition (trailing hemisphere) (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 3,287,286 km; phase 21.4°; 8.0°S, 267.2°W |
| 19:35 | -1.42 | Jupiter storm evolution experiment (LEISA) Range 3,353,109 km; phase 33.2°; 7.8°S, 328.0°W This is the first of four observations designed to study a complex structure in Jupiter's clouds: the turbulent wake region behind the Great Red Spot. To scientists' surprise, early New Horizons images have shown that the formerly turbulent region is now clear and smooth! The clear sky should result in LEISA being able to penetrate to a greater depth in Jupiter's atmosphere than had initially been expected. |
| 20:52 | -1.37 | Io high-resolution imaging with Pele on limb (MVIC, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,880,909 km; phase 36.2°; 8.9°S, 166.8°W |
| 23:05 | -1.28 | Ring imaging (for phase curve) (LORRI) Range 3,177,940 km; phase 36.5°; ring opening angle 7.9° |
| February 27 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 00:15 | -1.23 | Stellar occultation by Callisto (Alice) Range 4,977,370 km; phase 41.0°; 4.8°S, 6.2°W |
| 01:05 | -1.19 | Io high-resolution imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 2,691,322 km; phase 35.7°; 9.1°S, 203.0°W |
| 02:00 | -1.15 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 3,205,652 km; phase 27.7°; 7.7°S, 291.3°W |
| 02:30 | -1.13 | Europa terminator topography (LORRI, Alice) Range 3,202,823 km; phase 28.0°; 7.6°S, 292.1°W |
| 03:10 | -1.11 | Jupiter Little Red Spot near terminator (LORRI) Range 2,989,932 km; phase 40.7°; 8.0°S, 232.4°W |
| 04:00 | -1.07 | Elara imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 15,213,783 km; phase 10.4° Elara is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter that is 78 kilometers in diameter. At this range, its disk is almost exactly the same size as one LORRI pixel. LORRI's images may not show much detail on Elara, but the measurements will provide valuable information on the tiny moon's phase curve. |
| 04:50 | -1.04 | Callisto spectroscopy vs. phase (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 4,763,003 km; phase 46.1°; 4.8°S, 5.4°W |
| 05:25 | -1.01 | Io high-resolution imaging and composition (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,645,200 km; phase 36.4°; 8.9°S, 238.2°W |
| 05:58 | -0.99 | Jupiter storm evolution experiment (LEISA) Range 2,869,575 km; phase 44.0°; 8.1°S, 328.9°W |
| 06:50 | -0.95 | Stellar occultation by Europa (Alice) Range 3,149,865 km; phase 33.8°; 7.4°S, 305.2°W |
| 07:15 | -0.94 | Europa terminator topography (LORRI, Alice) Range 3,143,746 km; phase 34.5°; 7.4°S, 306.6°W |
| 07:50 | -0.91 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 3,137,589 km; phase 35.3°; 7.3°S, 307.9°W |
| 09:00 | -0.86 | Himalia imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 14,868,883 km; phase 11.1° Himalia is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter that is 184 kilometers in diameter. At this range, its disk is slightly more than two LORRI pixels across. The Himalia studies will be similar to those of Elara, mentioned above. |
| 09:15 | -0.85 | Io high-resolution imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 2,679,220 km; phase 39.4°; 8.4°S, 267.2°W |
| 09:45 | -0.83 | Ganymede highest-resolution imaging (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 3,492,717 km; phase 62.5°; 6.4°S, 38.3°W At this range, LORRI will achieve about 17 kilometers per pixel, and Ganymede's disk will be a little more than 300 pixels across. |
| 10:24 | -0.80 | Europa eclipse (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 3,106,432 km; phase 39.3°; 7.2°S, 314.4°W |
| 13:46 | -0.66 | Io eclipse (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,748,703 km; phase 46.7°; 7.6°S, 300.3°W |
| 16:05 | -0.57 | Jupiter storm evolution experiment (LEISA, LORRI) Range 2,504,536 km; phase 58.4°; 8.1°S, 326.0°W |
| 17:40 | -0.50 | Turn to Earth for communication session with the DSN New Horizons will spend more than 7 hours pointed at Earth. |
| February 28 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 01:00 | -0.20 | Europa terminator topography (LORRI, Alice) Range 2,968,624 km; phase 68.9°; 6.1°S, 345.6°W |
| 01:13 | -0.19 | Europa highest-resolution imaging (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,967,838 km; phase 69.5°; 6.1°S, 346.1°W At this range, LORRI will achieve about 15 kilometers per pixel, and Europa's disk will be about 210 pixels across. |
| 01:40 | -0.17 | Jupiter highest-resolution IR portrait (LEISA) Range 2,324,745 km; phase 75.1°; 7.4°S, 293.8°W |
| 03:10 | -0.11 | Callisto spectroscopy vs. phase (highest-resolution) (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 4,171,294 km; phase 75.0°; 4.0°S, 356.2°W At this range, LORRI will achieve about 21 kilometers per pixel, and Callisto's disk will be about 230 pixels across. |
| 03:21 | -0.10 | Europa closest approach Range 2,963,994 km; phase 75.0°; 5.9°S, 350.4°W |
| 03:50 | -0.08 | Io high-resolution imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 2,692,601 km; phase 83.2°; 6.1°S, 21.6°W |
| 04:30 | -0.05 | Io high-resolution imaging, composition (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,675,561 km; phase 85.3°; 6.0°S, 25.8°W |
| 05:20 | -0.02 | Stellar occultation by Io (Alice) Range 2,657,383 km; phase 87.4°; 6.0°S, 30.0°W |
| 05:45 | 0.00 | Jupiter closest approach Range 2,304,535 km; phase 83.0°; 6.9°S, 79.1°W |
| 06:43 | 0.04 | Ganymede closest approach Range 3,015,456 km; phase 102.2°; 5.3 °S, 42.2 °W |
| 07:06 | 0.06 | Callisto closest approach Range 4,154,909 km; phase 80.9°; 3.7 °S, 354.0°W |
| 09:45 | 0.17 | Jupiter rings: best portrait (LORRI) Range 2,323,595 km; phase 90.6°; ring opening angle 6.3° |
| 10:10 | 0.19 | Io torus UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 2,325,901 km; phase 91.1°; ring opening angle 6.2° This observation focuses on the torus of charged particles surrounding Io's orbit. |
| 11:00 | 0.22 | Io high-resolution imaging with Prometheus on limb (MVIC, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,489,864 km; phase 102.3°; 5.7°S, 63.9°W |
| 11:48 | 0.25 | "Kodak moment": Europa emerging from Jupiter occultation (LORRI) Range 3,014,186 km; phase 95.2°; 4.9°S, 5.6°W |
| 12:25 | 0.28 | Jupiter storm evolution experiment (LEISA, LORRI) Range 2,352,676 km; phase 95.2°; 5.8°S, 303.5°W |
| 13:05 | 0.31 | Io in Jupitershine (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,426,086 km; phase 106.6°; 5.5°S, 76.6°W Reflected light from Jupiter will illuminate the night side of Io. |
| 13:40 | 0.33 | Europa terminator topography (LORRI, Alice) Range 3,036,012 km; phase 99.3°; 4.7°S, 8.8°W |
| 15:15 | 0.40 | Io high-resolution imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 2,364,560 km; phase 110.2°; 5.4°S, 90.0°W |
| 15:52 | 0.42 | Turn to Earth for communication session with the DSN New Horizons will spend more than 8 hours pointed at Earth. |
| 21:58 | 0.68 | Io closest approach Range 2,237,848 km; phase 117.3°; 4.5 °S, 142.0°W |
| March 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 00:25 | 0.78 | Io high-resolution nightside with Pele on limb (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,259,865 km; phase 117.9°; 4.1°S, 161.0°W Nightside imaging of Io may reveal the thermal signatures of active volcanoes. The viewing angle may also backlight plumes on the sunlit limb. |
| 02:00 | 0.85 | Ring imaging (for phase curve) (LORRI) Range 2,723,899 km; phase 117.3°; ring opening angle 3.2° |
| 02:25 | 0.86 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 2,312,971 km; phase 118.1°; 3.7°S, 177.7°W |
| 03:30 | 0.91 | Europa terminator topography (LORRI, Alice) Range 3,280,474 km; phase 127.6°; 2.9°S, 39.5°W |
| 04:20 | 0.94 | Io high-phase imaging (MVIC, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,401,865 km; phase 118.2°; 3.3°S, 194.4°W |
| 04:50 | 0.96 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 3,302,812 km; phase 129.7°; 2.8°S, 42.8°W |
| 05:30 | 0.99 | Europa terminator topography (LORRI, Alice) Range 3,311,568 km; phase 130.5°; 2.7°S, 44.1°W |
| 05:50 | 1.01 | Callisto long UV integration (Alice) Range 4,625,626 km; phase 111.8°; 1.7°S, 343.4°W |
| 07:30 | 1.07 | Io high-phase imaging (MVIC, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,619,420 km; phase 118.8°; 2.6°S, 221.2°W |
| 07:58 | 1.09 | Io torus UV spectroscopy (Alice) |
| 08:25 | 1.11 | Io eclipse (MVIC, LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 2,680,940 km; phase 119.1°; 2.4°S, 227.2°W |
| 10:28 | 1.20 | Turn to Earth for communication session with the DSN New Horizons will spend more than 8 hours pointed at Earth. |
| 18:00 | 1.51 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 3,659,435 km; phase 128.5°; 0.8°S, 301.1°W |
| 18:15 | 1.52 | Ring imaging: main ring vertical structure, including ripples (LORRI) Range 3,463,466 km; phase 134.5°; ring opening angle 0.8° As New Horizons crosses Jupiter's ring plane, it will view the rings edge-on and search for vertical structures. |
| 20:00 | 1.60 | Himalia imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 10,799,461 km; phase 21.1° |
| 20:30 | 1.62 | Elara imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 7,964,750 km; phase 38.9° |
| 21:00 | 1.64 | Ring imaging: main ring vertical structure (LORRI) Range 3,624,083 km; phase 136.9°; ring opening angle 0.5° |
| 22:00 | 1.68 | Io in Jupitershine (MVIC, LORRI, Alice) Range 4,012,380 km; phase 133.9°; 0.4°S, 327.5°W |
| 22:20 | 1.69 | Ring imaging: main ring vertical structure (LORRI) Range 3,692,447 km; phase 137.9°; ring opening angle 0.4° |
| March 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 06:00 | 2.01 | Io high-phase imaging with Tvashtar on limb (MVIC, LORRI, Alice) Range 4,509,936 km; phase 145.5°; 0.3°N, 25.4°W |
| 06:20 | 2.03 | Ring imaging: main ring vertical structure (LORRI) Range 4,146,541 km; phase 143.1°; ring opening angle 0.4° |
| 07:55 | 2.09 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 3,727,013 km; phase 150.3°; 0.1°N, 136.5°W |
| 08:20 | 2.11 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 4,569,698 km; phase 148.0°; 0.5°N, 41.9°W |
| 09:10 | 2.14 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 3,764,331 km; phase 150.3°; 0.2°N, 141.9°W |
| 10:24 | 2.20 | "Kodak moment": Io Europa conjunction (MVIC, LORRI) Range 4,599,917 km; phase 149.9°; 0.7°N, 56.9°W The two moons will appear as a pair of closely aligned crescents. |
| 11:18 | 2.23 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 4,608,589 km; phase 150.8°; 0.8°N, 64.7°W |
| 14:00 | 2.35 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 4,618,682 km; phase 152.4°; 1.0°N, 86.5°W |
| 14:20 | 2.36 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 3,971,845 km; phase 149.6°; 0.6°N, 164.7°W |
| 15:22 | 2.40 | Turn to Earth for communication session with the DSN New Horizons will spend more than 8 hours pointed at Earth. |
| 23:50 | 2.76 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 4,794,388 km; phase 152.2°; 1.7°N, 169.6°W |
| March 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 00:20 | 2.78 | Ring imaging (for phase curve) (LORRI) Range 5,238,868 km; phase 151.4°; ring opening angle 1.6° |
| 01:40 | 2.83 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 4,735,210 km; phase 147.9°; 1.3°N, 213.7°W |
| 04:00 | 2.93 | Io high-phase imaging (MVIC, LORRI, Alice) Range 5,072,327 km; phase 150.8°; 1.9°N, 204.5°W |
| 06:30 | 3.03 | Jupiter Lyman alpha/H3+ airglow map (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 5,632,395 km; phase 153.5°; 1.8°N, 128.2°W |
| 07:30 | 3.07 | Jupiter Lyman alpha/H3+ airglow map (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 5,695,831 km; phase 153.8°; 1.9°N, 164.2°W |
| 08:15 | 3.11 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 5,540,776 km; phase 150.3°; 2.0°N, 243.1°W |
| 08:40 | 3.12 | Jupiter Lyman alpha/H3+ airglow map (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 5,759,385 km; phase 154.1°; 1.9°N, 200.2°W |
| 09:30 | 3.16 | Jupiter Lyman alpha/H3+ airglow map (LEISA, LORRI, Alice) Range 5,823,051 km; phase 154.4°; 2.0°N, 236.1°W |
| 10:15 | 3.19 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 5,782,012 km; phase 150.6°; 2.1°N, 259.9°W |
| 12:25 | 3.28 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 6,030,005 km; phase 151.2°; 2.1°N, 276.4°W |
| 12:50 | 3.30 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 5,856,305 km; phase 149.0°; 1.8°N, 260.1°W |
| 15:00 | 3.39 | Elara imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 6,218,247 km; phase 60.1° |
| 15:52 | 3.42 | Turn to Earth for communication session with the DSN New Horizons will spend more than 8 hours pointed at Earth. |
| March 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space- | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 00:20 | 3.78 | Io high-phase imaging (LORRI, Alice) Range 7,188,401 km; phase 158.8°; 2.4°N, 10.4°W |
| 02:40 | 3.87 | Ring imaging (for phase curve) (LORRI) Range 6,919,218 km; phase 158.6°; ring opening angle 2.6° |
| 03:50 | 3.92 | "Kodak moment": Ganymede crossing crescent Jupiter (LORRI) Range 5,933,345 km; phase 159.2°; 3.0°N, 180.4°W |
| 04:08 | 3.93 | "Kodak moment": Jupiter crescent with Callisto emerging (LORRI) Range 8,888,995 km; phase 159.1°; 1.9°N, 359.3°W |
| 11:30 | 4.24 | Europa UV spectroscopy (Alice) Range 8,126,755 km; phase 158.7°; 2.2°N, 345.4°W |
| 12:00 | 4.26 | Himalia imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 7,117,491 km; phase 40.7° |
| 12:50 | 4.30 | Ganymede eclipse (LORRI, Alice) Range 6,566,130 km; phase 158.1°; 3.2°N, 200.4°W |
| 17:15 | 4.48 | Stellar occultation by Ganymede (LORRI, Alice) Range 6,924,334 km; phase 157.7°; 3.3°N, 210.2°W |
| March 5 | ||
|---|---|---|
Space-craft | Days to Jupiter Closest Approach | Event |
| 01:59 | 4.85 | Turn to Earth for communication session with the DSN New Horizons will spend more than 8 hours pointed at Earth. |
| 11:00 | 5.22 | Elara imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 5,828,699 km; phase 90.7° At its closest to Elara, New Horizons will achieve a resolution of about 29 kilometers per pixel. Elara will be not quite 3 pixels across. |
| March 6 | ||
| 00:00 | 5.76 | Himalia imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 5,789,537 km; phase 61.0° |
| March 7 | ||
| 00:00 | 6.76 | Himalia imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 5,455,777 km; phase 78.5° At its closest to Himalia, New Horizons will achieve a resolution of about 27 kilometers per pixel. Himalia's disk will be not quite 7 pixels across. |
| 15:00 | 7.39 | Himalia imaging (phase coverage) (LORRI) Range 5,524,005 km; phase 89.9° |