New Horizons

New Horizons on work stand

New horizons (NASA)

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New Horizons 1

New Horizons is a spacecraft launched by NASA on January 19, 2006, with the primary mission of performing a flyby study of the Pluto system in 2015, and then continuing on to study other objects in the Kuiper Belt. Developed under the New Frontiers program, New Horizons has provided the first close-up images of Pluto and its moons, revolutionizing our understanding of the outer solar system.

Mission Overview

New Horizons was designed to help scientists learn more about the planets at the edge of our solar system. Before its encounter with Pluto, little was known about this distant world. New Horizons changed that by capturing high-resolution images and valuable data of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, as well as studying Pluto's atmosphere and smaller moons: Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx.

After its successful Pluto flyby on July 14, 2015, the mission was extended to explore additional Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). The spacecraft conducted a flyby of a small Kuiper Belt object, 486958 Arrokoth (previously known as Ultima Thule), on January 1, 2019, providing new insights into the building blocks of planet formation.

Design and Instruments

New Horizons is equipped with a variety of scientific instruments designed to study geology, surface composition, temperature, and the atmosphere of the bodies it encounters. These instruments include a high-resolution imaging camera (LORRI), a multispectral visible and infrared imager/spectrometer (Ralph), an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer (Alice), and a radio science experiment (REX), among others.

Mission Highlights

• Pluto Flyby: New Horizons' closest approach to Pluto provided detailed images of its surface, including mountains made of water ice and vast plains. The mission also offered insights into Pluto's thin atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind.
• Charon Discovery: The spacecraft revealed a surprisingly complex and varied landscape on Pluto's largest moon, Charon, including canyons, landslides, and a unique red polar cap.
• Kuiper Belt Exploration: The flyby of Arrokoth presented a contact binary object, consisting of two distinctly shaped lobes, indicating a gentle merger early in the solar system's history.

Future of the Mission

As of the last update, New Horizons continues to travel deeper into the Kuiper Belt. The mission team is searching for additional KBOs that the spacecraft could fly by in the coming years, extending its scientific discoveries further into the frontier of our solar system.

Legacy

New Horizons has significantly expanded our knowledge of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, areas once considered the last frontier of planetary science. The mission's success has paved the way for future explorations of the outer solar system, highlighting the importance of studying these distant worlds to understand the origins of our solar system.