| MISSION_DESCRIPTION |
This material has been adapted from the New Horizons web site. The mission
stop date is the current end date of the Kuiper Belt (KB) Extended Mission 2
(KEM2).
The MISSION_STOP_DATE is the current contracted mission stop date.
Summary
=======
Launch: January 19, 2006
Launch Vehicle: Atlas V 551 first stage; Centaur second stage;
STAR 48B solid rocket third stage
Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Trajectory: To Pluto and the Kuiper Belt via Jupiter Gravity
Assist
Mission Overview
================
The New Horizons Kuiper Belt Extended Mission is a mission to a
recently discovered, unexplored region of the solar system, the
Kuiper Belt. The centerpiece of the mission is a close flyby of
Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69 (Arrokoth). The mission will also
aggressively survey the KB using NH as an observatory, examining many
other Kuiper Belt Objects and Centaurs while studying the Kuiper Belt
dust, gas, plasma, and energetic particle environments. Doing so
will place both 2014 MU69 and the Pluto system in better context
among Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), increasing scientific understanding
of both.
Mission Design
==============
The New Horizons spacecraft trajectory was designed to optimize the
earliest possible Pluto fly-by. Post-Pluto modifications of the
trajectory were limited by the need to conserve fuel. A campaign to
discover suitable Kuiper Belt Objects within the cone of possible
New Horizons trajectory changes revealed five candidates.
In June, 2016, based on the 2016 Planetary Mission Senior Review
Panel report, NASA directed the New Horizons extended mission to
plan for continued operations through fiscal year 2021. The New
Horizons extended mission included a visit to a Kuiper Belt
Object known as 2014 MU69. The spacecraft passed 2014 MU69 with
closest approach on Jan 1, 2019.
As an extended mission to a target of opportunity, design options
for the New Horizons Kuiper Belt Extended Mission were limited.
2014 MU69 was observed using the same instruments and procedures
as proved so effective for studying the Pluto system in 2015.
See the New Horizons Mission catalog file for more information on
mission design and target opportunities within the primary mission
phase.
Mission Phases
==============
Summary of mission phases
-------------------------
Mission phases provide convenient handles and approximate time
boundaries to
1) partition the data into very broad categories of mission activity
2) provide approximate time boundaries for PDS archive data sets
The mission is continuous, so the boundaries are very soft i.e. in
an operational sense they do not exist in a noticeable way.
That being the case, the user should not expect the actual range of
times covered by data in this data set to exactly agree with the
boundaries of the corresponding mission phase described below; the
data set time range may be far less or it may overlap the boundaries.
See the New Horizons Mission catalog file for an extended explanation
of mission phases. Some primary mission phases are included in the
table below, for convenience and continuity.
Full MISSION_PHASE_NAME,
Short name Start(1,3) Stop(2,3) plus optional Description
---------- ---------- --------- -------------------------
LAUNCH 2006-01-19 2006-12-31 POST-LAUNCH CHECKOUT
JUPITER 2007-01-01 2007-06-26 JUPITER ENCOUNTER
PLUTOCRUISE 2007-06-27 2015-01-15 PLUTO CRUISE,
Jupiter-Pluto/Charon
Interplanetary Cruise
PLUTO 2015-01-15 2016-10-26 PLUTO ENCOUNTER,
Pluto mission phase,
Pluto/Charon approach,
flyby, post-encounter
KEMCRUISE1 2016-10-26 2018-08-14 CRUISE TO FIRST KBO ENCOUNTER,
Kuiper belt Extended
Mission (KEM) first
cruise
KEM1 2018-08-14 2022-09-30 KEM1 ENCOUNTER,
KBO1 ENCOUNTER,
KBO1 approach, flyby,
post-encounter
KEM2 2022-10-01 2024-09-30 KEM2 CRUISE
Notes:
1 Start at 00:00:00 UTC on the spacecraft that day
2 End before 00:00:00 UTC on the spacecraft next day
3 Start and end dates are not exact and identical for all
instruments; some instruments take single observations over several
days which span these mission phase boundaries. Late (re)playbacks
can also require the inclusion of new or modified data files from
an earlier mission phase.
The Extended Voyage
-------------------
KEM Cruise1
-----------
Short phase name (in DSID): KEMCRUISE1
Formal mission phase name: CRUISE TO FIRST KBO ENCOUNTER
Mission Phase Start Time - 2016-10-26
Mission Phase Stop Time - 2018-08-14
Activities during the KEMCRUISE1 mission phase to the first KBO
encounter were similar to those for Pluto Cruise phase. They also
included post-Pluto encounter calibrations in mid-2016, along with
continuing download of data from the Pluto encounter.
KEM 1 Encounter
---------------
Short phase name (in DSID): KEM1
Formal mission phase name: KEM1 ENCOUNTER
Mission Phase Start Time - 2018-08-14
Mission Phase Stop Time - 2022-09-30
Activities during the extended mission included imaging of distant
Kuiper belt objects throughout the extended mission, a close
encounter with the cold classical Kuiper belt object (486958)
Arrokoth on January 1, 2019, a post-Arrokoth encounter calibration
campaign in mid-2019, continued particle, plasma, and dust
observations, observations testing new flight software developments,
along with download of data from all of these activities. There were
also occasional additional observations as opportunities arose, such
as color observations of Uranus and Neptune, observations of zodiacal
dust, and observations of stars for an outreach-oriented stellar
parallax campaign.
[STERNETAL2019] discusses the initial results from the Arrokoth
flyby.
KEM2 Cruise
-----------
Short phase name (in DSID): KEM2
Formal mission phase name: KUIPER BELT EXTENDED MISSION 2
Mission Phase Start Time - 2022-10-01
Mission Phase Stop Time - 2024-09-30
Activities during the KEM2 mission phase include continuing
observations of distant KBOs, and dust and plasma measurements along
the New Horizons flight path through the Kuiper belt and beyond. KEM2
also includes new studies in Planetary Science (large-phase angle
observations of gas giants), Heliophysics (Lyman-alpha all sky map),
and Astrophysics (cosmic optical and ultraviolet background, and
distant shock regions).
Mission phases and sub-phases in data products
==============================================
Those general phase descriptions above were implemented slightly
differently in mission data products. A table of data product mission
phase and sub-phase designations follows. Again, primary mission
phases are included for convenience and continuity.
+-------------+-------------+------------+----------+-----------+
| Phase | Sub-phase | UTC | DOY | MET |
+-------------+-------------+------------+----------+-----------+
| CHECKOUT | | 2006-01-16 | 2006-016 | -324483 |
| | LAUNCH | 2006-01-16 | 2006-016 | -324483 |
| JUPITER | | 2007-01-01 | 2007-001 | 29915517 |
| | JUPITER | 2007-01-01 | 2007-001 | 29915517 |
| PLUTOCRUISE | | 2007-06-29 | 2007-180 | 45381117 |
| | PLUTOCRUISE | 2007-06-29 | 2007-180 | 45381117 |
| | ACO1 | 2007-09-24 | 2007-267 | 52897917 |
| | ACO2 | 2008-01-01 | 2008-001 | 61451517 |
| | ACO3 | 2009-01-01 | 2009-001 | 93073917 |
| | ACO4 | 2010-01-01 | 2010-001 | 124609917 |
| | ACO5 | 2011-01-01 | 2011-001 | 156145917 |
| | ACO6 | 2012-01-01 | 2012-001 | 187681917 |
| | ACO7 | 2013-01-01 | 2013-001 | 219304317 |
| | ACO8 | 2014-01-01 | 2014-001 | 250840317 |
| PLUTO | | 2015-01-15 | 2015-015 | 283585917 |
| | AP1 | 2015-01-15 | 2015-015 | 283585917 |
| | AP2 | 2015-04-05 | 2015-095 | 290497917 |
| | AP3 | 2015-06-23 | 2015-174 | 297323517 |
| | CORE | 2015-07-07 | 2015-188 | 298533117 |
| | DP1 | 2015-07-16 | 2015-197 | 299310717 |
| | DP2 | 2015-08-04 | 2015-216 | 300952317 |
| | DP3 | 2015-10-22 | 2015-295 | 307777917 |
| KEMCRUISE1 | | 2016-10-26 | 2016-300 | 339745917 |
| | KEMCRUISE1 | 2016-10-26 | 2016-300 | 339745917 |
| KEM1 | | 2018-08-14 | 2018-226 | 396489600 |
| | KEM1 | 2018-08-14 | 2018-226 | 396489600 |
! KEM2 | | 2022-10-01 | 2022-274 | 526888318 |
| | KEM2 | 2022-10-01 | 2022-274 | 526888318 |
+-------------+-------------+------------+----------+-----------+
|
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