Space
NASA Hubble Telescope Hunts for New Horizons' Targets for After its Pluto Mission
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Jul 02, 2014 08:25 AM EDT
The New Horizons (NH) spacecraft is currently set to streak past the Pluto system in July 2015. But what will happen to the equipment after that? That's a good question. Now, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is conducting an intensive search to find a suitable outer solar system object for New Horizons to visit after its Pluto mission.
More specifically, Hubble has set its sights on the Kuiper Belt when it comes to hunting for an object for study. The Kuiper Belt is a debris field of icy bodies that are left over from the solar system's formation about 4.6 billion years ago. Although the belt was hypothesized to exist in 1951, it's only in the early 1990s that actually objects from the belt were observed. So far, about 1,000 Kuiper Belt objects have been catalogued, though it's thought that many more of these exist.
In order to actually have New Horizons deviate from its course and study the Kuiper Belt, though, Hubble needs to find a minimum of two KBOs. So far, scientists have analyzed about 200 Hubble images, and have accomplished just that.
"Once again the Hubble Space Telescope has demonstrated the ability to explore the universe in new and unexpected ways," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, in a news release. "Hubble science is at its best when it works in concert with other NASA missions and ground-based observations."
That said, the scientists still need to establish whether or not these KBOs are suitable targets for New Horizons. If they are, though, New Horizons' trajectory can be modified in the fall of 2015 in order to rendezvous with the target object about three to four years later.
"I am delighted that our initial investment of Hubble time paid off," said Matt Mountain, STScl director. "We are looking forward to see if the team can find a suitable KBO that New Horizons might be able to visit after its fly-by of Pluto."
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NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
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First Posted: Jul 02, 2014 08:25 AM EDT
The New Horizons (NH) spacecraft is currently set to streak past the Pluto system in July 2015. But what will happen to the equipment after that? That's a good question. Now, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is conducting an intensive search to find a suitable outer solar system object for New Horizons to visit after its Pluto mission.
More specifically, Hubble has set its sights on the Kuiper Belt when it comes to hunting for an object for study. The Kuiper Belt is a debris field of icy bodies that are left over from the solar system's formation about 4.6 billion years ago. Although the belt was hypothesized to exist in 1951, it's only in the early 1990s that actually objects from the belt were observed. So far, about 1,000 Kuiper Belt objects have been catalogued, though it's thought that many more of these exist.
In order to actually have New Horizons deviate from its course and study the Kuiper Belt, though, Hubble needs to find a minimum of two KBOs. So far, scientists have analyzed about 200 Hubble images, and have accomplished just that.
"Once again the Hubble Space Telescope has demonstrated the ability to explore the universe in new and unexpected ways," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, in a news release. "Hubble science is at its best when it works in concert with other NASA missions and ground-based observations."
That said, the scientists still need to establish whether or not these KBOs are suitable targets for New Horizons. If they are, though, New Horizons' trajectory can be modified in the fall of 2015 in order to rendezvous with the target object about three to four years later.
"I am delighted that our initial investment of Hubble time paid off," said Matt Mountain, STScl director. "We are looking forward to see if the team can find a suitable KBO that New Horizons might be able to visit after its fly-by of Pluto."
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone