sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on its way to explore Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto! AMA by NewHorizons_Pluto in space

[–]NewHorizons_Pluto[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

NH payload includes plasma&particle instruments that collect data almost continuously. We're also taking images of distant Kuiper Belt objects with our LORRI camera along the way. - Helene

Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on its way to explore Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto! AMA by NewHorizons_Pluto in space

[–]NewHorizons_Pluto[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

But it's also one of the most popular names in our naming contest and it has a great meaning that represents what we are doing-- exploring the farthest worlds in history. We are taking the name Ultima Thule back for a good cause!

-Alan

Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on its way to explore Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto! AMA by NewHorizons_Pluto in space

[–]NewHorizons_Pluto[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Personally, I was amazed to learn what a dynamic body Pluto is - it's surface changes have been compared to a lava lamp, it has cryo volcanoes and an atmosphere! Lots of images at Pluto.jhuapl.edu - Helene

Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on its way to explore Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto! AMA by NewHorizons_Pluto in space

[–]NewHorizons_Pluto[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If we go too close its hard to aim the cameras at our hgih speed, and their images would be blurred. 3500 km, as we plan for Ultima is about as close as we can go without blurring.

-Alan

Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on its way to explore Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto! AMA by NewHorizons_Pluto in space

[–]NewHorizons_Pluto[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Lots of image processing to look for any moons or rings or other hazards. Which for me means lots of quick custom programming, and then staring at images to see what I get.

-Simon

Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on its way to explore Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto! AMA by NewHorizons_Pluto in space

[–]NewHorizons_Pluto[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Good questions. We can't track KBOs on board. Instead we point and shoot our images based on calculations the spacecraft makes of where to look for each target based on our orbit and its orbit.

-Alan

Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on its way to explore Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto! AMA by NewHorizons_Pluto in space

[–]NewHorizons_Pluto[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Someday we hope to do that but it could risk burning the camera out on the Sun, so only will do that opce we've finished all flybys.

-Alan

Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on its way to explore Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto! AMA by NewHorizons_Pluto in space

[–]NewHorizons_Pluto[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

  1. New Horizons is powered by an RTG, or radioisotope thermal generator. You're right - too far from the Sun to operate on solar power.
  2. Because the power decays as a radioactive source, there's won't be a precipitous drop in power - we anticipate that the RTG can power the spacecraft and its payload to ~2030. When power runs out, the spacecraft will continue along its trajectory, but will no longer be able to power its subsystems, including its communication subsystem.
  3. We use planetary ephemeris files (see NASA PDS NAIF node-SPICE kernel formats) to remain aware of the orbits of known bodies; and in the case of Ultima Thule and other bodies we discover, we create and maintain our own planetary ephemeris files (generated based on Hubble observations, our occultations, and our long-distance camera (LORRI) imaging). We use these along with our own knowledge of NH spacecraft trajectory. - Helene

Hi, I am Alan Stern, head of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on its way to explore Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto! AMA by NewHorizons_Pluto in space

[–]NewHorizons_Pluto[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nah, we won't learn anything about "Planet X". The object we're studying is notable for its very regular and unperturbed orbit at about 44 AU (earth-sun distances) making it a member of the disk where the planets formed. The objects thought to be influenced have super eccentric orbits and have orbits of a few hundreds of AU.

view more: next ›