The New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt

12 November 2008

Dr Alan Stern

New Horizons is the first scientific investigation to obtain a close look at Pluto and its moon Charon. Scientists hope to find answers to basic questions about the surface properties, geology, interior makeup and atmospheres on these bodies, the last in our solar system to be visited by a spacecraft. The mission could also visit one or more Kuiper Belt objects.  New Horizons launched on January 19, 2006. It will swing past Jupiter for a gravity boost & scientific studies in early 2007 and reach Pluto in July 2015. Then, as part of an extended mission, the spacecraft would head deeper into the Kuiper Belt to study one or more of the icy mini-worlds in the region a billion miles beyond Neptune's orbit.  

To get to Pluto, which is 3 billion miles from Earth, in just 9.5 years, the spacecraft will speed by the planet at a velocity of about 27,000 miles per hour. The instruments on New Horizons will start taking data on Pluto and Charon months before it arrives. About three months from the closest approach - when Pluto and Charon are about 65 million miles away - the instruments will take pictures and spectra measurements and begin to make the first maps.  This Toyota-ANU Public Lecture described the New Horizons mission and its progress since its launch on January 19 2006.

Broad Topics: Physical Science

Sub-topics: Astronomy & Astrophysics

Areas: ANU College of Science

Dr. Alan Stern is a planetary scientist, space program executive, and author. His work has taken him to numerous astronomical observatories, to the South Pole, and to the upper atmosphere aboard high performance military aircraft. He has been involved as a researcher in 24 suborbital, orbital, and planetary space missions, including nine for which he was the mission principle investigator; he also led the development of eight scientific instruments for planetary and near-space research missions. He was named to the Time 100's 2007 list of most influential people and has published over 200 technical papers and 40 popular articles.

In 2007 and 2008, Dr. Stern served as NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science, directing a $4.4B organization with 93 separate flight missions and a program of over 3,000 research grants. During his NASA tenure, a record 10 major new flight projects were started and deep reforms of NASA's scientific research and the education and public outreach programs were put in place. Dr. Stern is the Principal Investigator (PI) of NASA's $700M New Horizon's Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission, the largest PI-led space mission ever launched by NASA. Dr. Stern is also the PI of two instruments aboard New Horizons, the ALICE UV spectrometer and the Ralph Visible Imager/IR Spectrometer.

Dr Stern's visit was organised by the CSIRO.

Part of the 2008 Toyota-ANU Public Lecture Series.