New Horizons to Pluto and beyond – Les Echos

After a journey of nine years, the New Horizons spacecraft finally wakes up to perform its study Pluto mission. Thanks to recent data from the Hubble telescope, NASA has new goals in the viewfinder

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Although Pluto is no longer considered a planet since 2006 launch of the US space probe New Horizon, the mission of the latter continues. A new course has also just been crossed Saturday as the capsule came out of hibernation For its part, the project team in charge of NASA hopes to submit to the other mission objectives in the course of 2016.

Indeed, recent observations from the Hubble telescope, the result of a cooperative project between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), shows that the objects of the Belt Kuiper (KBO) would have a real interest in being analyzed by the probe. This asteroid belt located on the borders of the solar system, including Pluto is a part, includes objects that remain little studied. These are the same objects that constitute the basic elements of telluric planets (Building blocks)

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New Horizons take on board seven instruments including infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers images, two cameras with a high-resolution telescope, two powerful particle spectrometers and a space dust detector. For only energy, the ship only works with an electric generator with a capacity of less than two 100-watt bulbs.

A hibernation reduces costs

The technique of hibernation helped preserve the electronic components, electrical circuits and aircraft system while the long journey of the ship. The few times when the probe was “awake” since his departure was devoted to setting flight instruments and do some research.

The probe has hibernated 1873 days, which is the equivalent of two thirds of the trip. 18 times during the journey to Pluto. Last hibernation lasted only 99 days. The flight computer made a regular review of its operation by sending a weekly message to Earth.

At an average distance of 5.766 billion km from Earth, Pluto is smaller than the Moon and its mass 500 times lower than that of the Earth. She has five moons and orbits the Sun in 247.7 years.