New Horizon Heads for new Frontiers

As of March 23, 2009, the New Horizon space craft has traveled one-third the distance it needs to go in order to explore Pluto. The craft left earth’s atmosphere 38 months ago and has traveled almost two billion kilometers of flight. The craft left Jupiter’s orbit last year. It was there that astronomers from Lowell Observatory tested the vital instruments needed to explore Pluto.
The New Horizon began its first set of test Feb. 28, 2007, as it came within 1.4 million miles of Jupiter. As the craft was utilizing Jupiter’s gravity, in order to trim three years off its trip, it began taking pictures and conducting other observations. Using a range of viewing angles the craft captured the clearest images ever taken of Jupiter’s ring system. Scientists, having pre programmed the craft to do just that, were not surprised when data began streaming in later that day. However, once the clarity and vivacity of the pictures were realized, there was enough surprise to go around for everyone.
Astronomer Will Grundy, from Lowell Observatory, was one of the amazed scientists to view the new pictures of the gas giant. “Part of the reason for doing so many complicated observations at Jupiter was to flush out bugs,” Grundy said. “Lots of interesting science is coming from that encounter, which also provided a valuable rehearsal for the real objective: the Pluto system.”
On Jan. 16, 2006, the New Horizon space craft was launched into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. As part of NASA’s New Frontiers program, The New Horizon project has scientists from all around the United States contributing their expertise. The craft is expected to reach Pluto April 12, 2015. Its mission is to record and send data to scientists who are interested in how and when the dwarf planet formed.
The craft has already captured some of the most spectacular pictures ever photographed. The New Horizon can view objects as small as 0.6 miles in diameter, which enabled the craft to produce close-up scans of the Little Red Spot, Jupiter's second-largest storm. The spot is about 70 percent of Earth’s diameter. Through the images, scientists are continuing the search for clues about how these massive storm systems form.
Observations made of Jupiter were scientifically significant to the exploration of Pluto because it gave scientists a chance to test vital systems. “Things like electronics, thrusters, radio transmitters, computers, and star tracker cameras all come in pairs, so if one fails or behaves unexpectedly, we can switch to a backup one,” Grundy said. “It's because a system this complex will inevitably have unexpected behaviors.” As with most technically advanced systems bugs are always common. Grundy believes knowing about the glitches now gives them eight years to fix them or learn to work around them before the Pluto encounter. Although Grundy said, “nothing so far has been a show-stopper.”
After being slung around Jupiter and gaining speed through the planets gravity, the craft is now on trajectory with Pluto. “We've explored the rocky planets and we've explored the gas giants, but we have never yet visited any of the small icy objects like Pluto, Eris, Quaoar, Sedna,” said Grundy. “Once we get down to work and use the data from the New Horizon we’ll understand how the Pluto system really works, and what it can tell us of the early history of the solar system.” Grundy began working for Lowell Observatory in 1997. Besides working on the New Horizon mission he is also on the science definition team for a possible future comet surface sample return mission, and is involved in a large number of different observing projects using Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and a variety of ground-based telescopes. Grundy said he also does laboratory studies of cryogenic outer solar system materials, which are materials that have been exposed to temperatures below –238 F. Grundy has extensive knowledge about the Pluto system, the Kuiper belt, and remote-sensing techniques for outer solar system surfaces, which are all needed as the New Horizon rendezvous with Pluto. “Everything we do is remote-sensing,” Grundy said. Through remote-sensing scientists are conducting research via ultraviolet, visible, infrared and radio wave observations from a distance. The interest in studying Pluto predates the celestial body’s down grade from the ninth planet to a dwarf planet, but the funds and political will needed to make it a reality were never in strong demand. “The first ideas for a Pluto mission were floated around 1989,” Grundy said. “Following that, there were many different incarnations and cancellations.” The New Horizons mission is funded through 2017, which is long enough for scientists to fly through the Pluto system, record and return the data, and analyze it. Unlike most spacecrafts that eventually return to earth, the New Horizon is on a one-way trip to the outer most regions of the solar system. Grundy is confident that the craft will perform exceptionally well once it arrives at Pluto.
This New Horizon mission is the first in a series of New Frontier projects, which is NASA's new program for medium sized missions. Grundy said, “NASA hopes to launch New Frontier missions at a rate of two or three a decade.” One such mission that is in the works is a launching of a probe to Jupiter in August 2011. Interested astronomy enthusiasts are able to track the New Horizon craft and research its capabilities at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/.

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