2015-07-14 New Horizons Mission Update, Pluto Flyby Day Morning, NASA JHU APL

more at

July 14th Pluto flyby day live press conference on the New Horizons mission, the spacecraft and its suite of instruments. From the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, site of the Mission Operations Center.

Public domain film from NASA.

New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as part of NASA’s New Frontiers program. Built by the Applied Physics Laboratory and the Southwest Research Institute, with a team led by S. Alan Stern, the spacecraft was launched to study Pluto, its moons and the Kuiper Belt, performing flybys of the Pluto system and one or more Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs)…

…On January 15, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft began its approach phase to Pluto, which will result in the first ever flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015…

The close encounter

New Horizons is intended to pass within 12,500 km (7,800 mi) of Pluto, with this closest approach date estimated to occur on July 14, 2015 at 11:50 UTC. New Horizons will have a relative velocity of 13.78 km/s (49,600 km/h; 30,800 mph) at its closest approach, and will come as close as 28,800 km (17,900 mi) to Charon, although these parameters may be changed during flight. Starting 3.2 days before the closest approach, long-range imaging will include the mapping of Pluto and Charon to 40 km (25 mi) resolution. This is half the rotation period of the Pluto–Charon system and will allow imaging of all sides of both bodies. Coverage will repeat twice per day, to search for changes due to snows or cryovolcanism. Due to Pluto’s tilt, a portion of the northern hemisphere will be in shadow at all times. During the flyby, LORRI should be able to obtain select images with resolution as high as 50 m/px (if closest distance is around 12,500 km), and MVIC should obtain four-color global dayside maps at 1.6 km resolution. LORRI and MVIC will attempt to overlap their respective coverage areas to form stereo pairs. LEISA will obtain hyperspectral near-infrared maps at 7 km/px globally and 0.6 km/pixel for selected areas.

Meanwhile, Alice will characterize the atmosphere, both by emissions of atmospheric molecules (airglow), and by dimming of background stars as they pass behind Pluto (occultation). During and after closest approach, SWAP and PEPSSI will sample the high atmosphere and its effects on the solar wind. VBSDC will search for dust, inferring meteoroid collision rates and any invisible rings. REX will perform active and passive radio science. Ground stations on Earth will transmit a powerful radio signal as New Horizons passes behind Pluto’s disk, then emerges on the other side. The communications dish will measure the disappearance and reappearance of the radio occultation signal. The results will resolve Pluto’s diameter (by their timing) and atmospheric density and composition (by their weakening and strengthening pattern). (Alice can perform similar occultations, using sunlight instead of radio beacons.)…

Reflected sunlight from Charon will allow some imaging observations of the nightside. Backlighting by the Sun will highlight any rings or atmospheric hazes. REX will perform radiometry of the nightside.

Lesser satellite observations

New Horizons‍ ’​ best spatial resolution of the small satellites is 460m/pixel at Nix, 1.1 km/pixel at Hydra, 3.2 km/pixel at Kerberos, and 3.2 km/pixel at Styx..

Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is the second-most massive known dwarf planet, after the scattered-disc object Eris. It is probably the largest object in the Kuiper belt and possibly the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume. It is the tenth-most-massive known body directly orbiting the Sun. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is primarily made of rock and ice and is relatively small—about one-sixth the mass of the Moon and one-third its volume. It has a moderately eccentric and inclined orbit that takes it from 30 to 49 astronomical units (4.4–7.4 billion km) from the Sun. This means that Pluto periodically comes closer to the Sun than Neptune…

Pluto was discovered in 1930 and was originally considered the ninth planet from the Sun. Its status as a planet fell into question in 1992 following the discovery of 1992 QB1, the first identified Kuiper belt object. Numerous other Kuiper belt objects were subsequently discovered beyond Neptune. The knowledge that Pluto is only one of several large icy bodies in the outer Solar System prompted many in the astronomical community to conclude that it should be reclassified as one of those objects…

Pluto has five known moons: Charon (the largest, with a diameter just over half that of Pluto), Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra…