New Horizons Spacecraft Approaches Pluto

[Junior Bonner]

From the wired article:


New Horizons’ job won’t be done once it passes Pluto. In the fall, mission control will fire up its thrusters and point the spacecraft at one of two objects in the Kuiper Belt—one closer and easier to reach, the other farther away but potentially larger and thus most interesting to visit. Both are smaller than the dwarf planet, and belong to another group of Kuiper Belt objects called the Cold Classicals.

These objects have been undisturbed since the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago; an expedition there has been likened to an archeological dig in space. “This is maybe the most primitive material out there in the solar system,” says Weaver. The mission’s scientists are working out the last details before they make the call on which object to visit.

From there, New Horizons will keep flying and observing until it reaches interstellar space—like the Voyager missions that preceded it.

I understand the need to go into the Kuiper Belt, but it seems that it would be wiser to put New Horizon into orbit around Pluto, rather than sending it into the Kuiper. Not only that, but allowing it to continue into interstellar space seems like such a waste.

 

[Coded-Dude]

 

[Hobbes]

I understand the need to go into the Kuiper Belt, but it seems that it would be wiser to put New Horizon into orbit around Pluto, rather than sending it into the Kuiper. Not only that, but allowing it to continue into interstellar space seems like such a waste.

New Horizons is the fastest man made object ever and Pluto is rather small.
It might be that achieving a useful orbit had a low probability of success.
Kuiper belt will be interesting tho.

 

[Coded-Dude]

It would have been a waste of full, getting into orbit would have basically stranded it there. They wouldn't have enough to take it out of orbit and send it further in space(and get it where it needs to go), and I think studying "origin" material is far more beneficial than simply studying an outlying planet in our system. I read an article on why(I just paraphrased), I'll see if I can dig it up....

ETA - here it is: http://io9.com/heres-why-the-new-horizons-spacecraft-wont-be-stopping-1710069685

To get New Horizons into Pluto’s orbit, mission planners would have to reduce its speed by over 90%, which would require more than 1,000 times the amount of fuel the probe can carry. That’s a technologically unfeasible proposition.

It is going about 32k mph.....don't pump the brakes when there are more important things to study out there.

 

[ronny]

I don't think it is physically possible to carry enough fuel to slow it down enough to achieve orbit. It ain't the Enterprise.

 

[Junior Bonner]

Well, I understand yall's line of reasoning. But Pluto's orbit is 3 billion miles away and it swings further out during its 280 year circuit around the sun. This may be the only shot we get at Pluto in our lifetimes. Seems to me Pluto's gravity could slow down the probe. Now, if New Horizon strikes something out there in the Kuiper Belt, it's over. Yes, the Kuiper Belt is the Great Mystery, but it is a terrible risk to thrust New Horizon into. The probe could orbit Pluto for years and give us tremendous info on the dwarf planet.

 

[Junior Bonner]

It would have been a waste of full, getting into orbit would have basically stranded it there. They wouldn't have enough to take it out of orbit and send it further in space(and get it where it needs to go), and I think studying "origin" material is far more beneficial than simply studying an outlying planet in our system. I read an article on why(I just paraphrased), I'll see if I can dig it up....

ETA - here it is: http://io9.com/heres-why-the-new-horizons-spacecraft-wont-be-stopping-1710069685



It is going about 32k mph.....don't pump the brakes when there are more important things to study out there.

I read the link, and I guess it's right. I thought though, the gravity of Pluto could somehow be used to advantage...

 

[Hobbes]

NH stored pics and data during the flyby to maximize resource usage.
Should be some awesome pics, and data returned tomorrow.

 

[Junior Bonner]

NH stored pics and data during the flyby to maximize resource usage.
Should be some awesome pics, and data returned tomorrow.

Yep. Once in a lifetime photo album. I rather enjoyed the few photos that we got of Titan, it was a miracle that we did that. Got that probe through Saturn's rings. We can get back to Saturn, though. Pluto is distancing itself from us and it may be 200 years before we visit it again.

 

[SoonerP226]

Well, I understand yall's line of reasoning. But Pluto's orbit is 3 billion miles away and it swings further out during its 280 year circuit around the sun. This may be the only shot we get at Pluto in our lifetimes. Seems to me Pluto's gravity could slow down the probe. Now, if New Horizon strikes something out there in the Kuiper Belt, it's over. Yes, the Kuiper Belt is the Great Mystery, but it is a terrible risk to thrust New Horizon into. The probe could orbit Pluto for years and give us tremendous info on the dwarf planet.

Not to mention the possibility that it smacks something and sends a comet of extinction down upon us. Maybe that's how the dinosaurs died, sending space probes into the Kuiper Belt...





^^^ For the Humor Impaired: That's a joke.