New Horizons ready for Jupiter flyby
Posted: Fri, Jan 19, 2007, 7:11 AM ET (1211 GMT)
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, launched last year on a mission to the distant dwarf planet Pluto, is set to fly past Jupiter next month, project officials said Thursday. The spacecraft will make its closest approach to the solar system's largest planet on February 28th, passing 2.3 million kilometers from the planet. The flyby is designed to provide a gravity assist to the spacecraft, boosting its speed by over 14,000 km/h to 84,000 km/h, allowing the spacecraft to fly past Pluto in July 2015. During the flyby the spacecraft will take images of and collect other data from the planet, its magnetosphere, and its moons, which will be stored by the spacecraft and transmitted back to Earth starting in March.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, launched last year on a mission to the distant dwarf planet Pluto, is set to fly past Jupiter next month, project officials said Thursday. The spacecraft will make its closest approach to the solar system's largest planet on February 28th, passing 2.3 million kilometers from the planet. The flyby is designed to provide a gravity assist to the spacecraft, boosting its speed by over 14,000 km/h to 84,000 km/h, allowing the spacecraft to fly past Pluto in July 2015. During the flyby the spacecraft will take images of and collect other data from the planet, its magnetosphere, and its moons, which will be stored by the spacecraft and transmitted back to Earth starting in March.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Vast signs contract with SpaceX for ISS private astronaut missions
Posted: Sat, Dec 21 11:59 AM ET (1659 GMT) Avio signs ESA contracts for Vega upgrades and Earth science satellite launch
Posted: Sat, Dec 21 11:57 AM ET (1657 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, December 26
Buy SpaceX Stock With Ease, But Beware The Risks
Forbes.com — 7:35 am ET (1235 GMT) ESA Enlists Portuguese Navy Submarine to Prepare for Deep Space
European Spaceflight — 7:22 am ET (1222 GMT) Has CNES Opened the Door for a European Space Station?
European Spaceflight — 7:21 am ET (1221 GMT) Scientists await signal from spacecraft after historic close encounter with the sun
NPR — 7:19 am ET (1219 GMT) Summer read: Cosmic Catastrophes
Cosmos Magazine — 7:18 am ET (1218 GMT) |
