New Horizons spacecraft will wake up today

[bananas]

Source: Sen

Pluto, are you ready for your closeup? Controllers of the New Horizons spacecraft are counting down the days until the closest encounter with the dwarf planet about a year from now.

Meanwhile, today (15 June) they will temporarily wake up the spacecraft from its power-saving hibernation mode to check on its systems and perform some preliminary science ahead of the flyby in July 2015.

"This summer’s hibernation wakeup will be a particularly busy operation," wrote Alan Stern, the principal investigator of New Horizons, in an update on the spacecraft's web site.

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New Horizons will also cross the orbit of Neptune on 25 August, which by pure coincidence is the 25th anniversary of when the Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to the blue gas giant.

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Read more: http://www.sen.com/news/new-horizons-wake-up-fathers-day

[tomm2thumbs]

1. neat news!

the liftoff was stellar -- always amazes

(I think I read somewhere that it was after the probe was already on the way that Pluto was downgraded from planet-status... hence them calling it a planet in the lift-off video)




Below are a couple of pics from the New Horizons probe en route to Pluto -- showing Pluto and one of its 5 moons. Charon, which was discovered in 1978, is the largest of the moons known to orbit Pluto.


link for more info

[jakeXT]

2. Any bets on how many more moons they'll find ?

http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2006/060622_image1.asp

[Stryst]

6. I think

it's more likely that a number of objects will be found in proximity to Pluto, and there will be arguments about weather they're "moons of Pluto" or just more Kuiper belt objects. Since the inner boundry of the Kuiper belt isn't really known yet, and we know almost nothing about the Oort cloud, it's going to be an argument about classification, but LOTS of new objects are going to be found. I'm pretty excited about this project.

[PosterChild]

7. One question that I've heard discussed...

... is whether or not Pluto's moons should be considered moons, or if the entire collection should be considered a "system" of dwarf planets. I think that the answer depends on whether the center of gravity of the objects is inside of Pluto or in some area of space between the the objects.

In case you didn't know, you can FRIEND New Horizons here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Horizons/108365772519065

[bemildred]

3. Very cool. nt

[daleo]

4. Nice

I have been wondering about it lately. Only a year to go. To paraphrase Spock, it should be fascinating.

I wonder how long it will be tracked after the fly-by? It will be interesting to see if it reveals anomalous results like Voyager probes, in terms of possible revisions to GR.

[PosterChild]

8. After fly-by there will be a period...

... of about a month or so during which the fly-by data is down linked. After that, it will perform a survey of its surroundings to select potential Kuiper belt objects and, once a target has been selected, it may be sent in that direction for another fly-by.

The Kuiper belt object fly-by would be an "extended mission", so it is not certain that it would be approved. It would depend on the available target, the amount of fuel they have left, and NASA funding considerations. Since the possibility of the extended mission was considered as part of the original plan, there is a good chance they will be able to go ahead with it - all other things going right.

New Horizons is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator like Voyager, so it has the electrical power to last a long time, independent of the Sun. However, the instruments are fixed to the spacecraft without gimbals so the thrusters have to be fired to point them. The fuel to do so is a very limited resource, so I don't think this mission will have the long, very extended life that Voyager has had.

BTW, in case you did not know, you can "friend" New Horizons here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Horizons/108365772519065

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, bananas.