NASA's New Horizons spacecraft ready to visit the farthest object in its history

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft ready to visit the farthest object in its history

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is about to fly over the subject of the Kuiper Belt, nicknamed Ultima Thule, for the New Year, an event that will set the record for the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft, scientists said. The probe successfully completed the three-and-a-half-minute maneuver on October 3 to return home, NASA said in a statement.

The maneuver slightly altered the trajectory of the probe and accelerated its speed by 2.1 meters per second, allowing it to fly over Ultima – officially named 2014 MU69 – on January 1, 2019. "Thanks to this maneuver, we are in the middle pike and in time for the most distant exploration of the worlds of history – more than a billion kilometers beyond Pluto, "said Alan Stern, senior scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in the United States.

At 6.6 billion kilometers from Earth, Ultima Thule will be the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft. New Horizons himself was about 6.35 billion kilometers from home when he did Wednesday's course correction maneuver (TCM), the most advanced course correction ever made.

This was the first Ultima targeting maneuver using images taken by New Horizons himself to determine the position of the spacecraft relative to the Kuiper Belt object. These "optical navigation" images, collected by LORRI (Long Range Reconnaissance Imager), provide direct information on Ultima's position relative to New Horizons, and help the team determine the direction that will take the spacecraft.

The New Horizons team designed the TCM by determining the current trajectory of the spacecraft and its target, and then calculating the maneuvers necessary to place the spacecraft at the desired "target point" of the overflight – 3,500km – from Ultima to the nearest approach.

"Recent navigation images have helped us confirm that Ultima is about 500 km from its expected position, which is exceptionally good," said Fred Pelletier, head of the New Horizons Navigation Team. , from KinetX Aerospace, Inc. Confirming that Ultima is living up to its expectations the location is an important and somewhat unique aspect of this overflight.

"Since we fly very fast and close to the surface of Ultima, about four times closer than Pluto's flyby in July 2015, the flyby must be very accurate," said Derek Nelson, navigation manager. at New Horizons, also from KinetX. "The images help determine the position and timing of the flyby, but we also need to trust Ultima's pre-estimated position and speed to ensure flyover success," said Nelson.

"These early images give us confidence that Ultima is exactly what we expected and that the timing of the flyby will be accurate," he said.
The spacecraft is only 112 million kilometers from Ultima at 51,911 kilometers per hour. The team will eventually have to guide the spacecraft in a "box" of about 120 km by 320 km and plan the overflight within 140 seconds.