Behind the Scenes: New Horizons Pluto System Mission

  • APL engineer air cleaning New Horizons probe primary mirror

    APL engineer air cleaning the primary mirror for the LORRI —LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager system — for NASA / JHUAPL New Horizons Pluto System / Kuiper Belt missions

  • New Horizons LORRI telescope assembly

    behind the scenes still life of New Horizons LORRI camera mount

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    Fall 2005 NASA GSFC: power systems engineers for the New Horizons space craft Uno Carlson (L) and Geffrey Ottman

  • New Horizons LORRI primary mirror

    Behind the scenes - Planetary space systems as sculpture: Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) camera primary mirror

  • New Horizons LORRI graphite composite Telescope Casing

    A graphite composite baffle used to house the LORRI —LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager aboard the New Horizons Pluto system space probe.

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    Fall 2005 - New Horizons electrical harnessing engineer Donald Clopein

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    Fall 2005: New Horizons quality assurance monitor (Isabelle Lewis) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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    Dr. Andrew Cheng: chief scientist for the Space Department at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; principal investigator for New Horizons' LORRI instrument

  • planetary systems as sculpture - New Horizons LORRI CCD digital imager

    Planetary space systems as sculpture: New Horizons LORRI CCD digital capture system and its 1024 × 1024 pixel thinned, backside-illuminated charge-coupled device detector. LORRI has no color filters or moving parts.

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    Fall 2005: New Horizons space craft at NASA GSFC ... the telemetry dish is 83 inches (2.1-meters)

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    Dr. Yanping Guo, Space Department JHU Applied Physics Lab: New Horizons Mission Design Lead

  • NASA New Horizons space craft Spin Test: June 2005

    New Horizons spacecraft during spin test in the high bay at NASA Goddard June 2005. (Published on front page New York Times July 19, 2015)

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    When asked in January 2006 , at Kennedy Space Center: "Where is Pluto?" — Patricia ("Patsy") Edson Tombaugh, widow of Clyde Tombaugh who discovered Pluto in 1930.

  • 19 January 2006 NASA Kennedy Space Center:  the launch of an Atlas V with the Pluto system bound New Horizons spacecraft

    Atlas V launch of New Horizons to the Pluto system Jan 19, 2006 Black & White film - remote camera less than 300 feet from launch pad.

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    Alice Bowman, Space Department JHU Applied Physics Lab: New Horizons Mission Operations Manager

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    T-3 days: Team leader of the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) Jeff Moore with planetary scientist responding to early images of Pluto

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    Alan Stern and Will Grundy respond to initial data a few days before the Pluto encounter

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    New Horizons Pluto mission: behind the scenes

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    10 July 2015: Chris Hersman, Space Department JHU Applied Physics Lab – New Horizons mission systems engineer

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    13 July 2015 —APL, less than 24 hours until encounter: NH Project Scientist Hal Weaver on NASA TV broadcast

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    48 Hours to encounter, 12 July: Dr. Bobby Williams, (Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics for KinetX Aerospace) is the lead of New Horizons navigation team.

  • First reveal of Pluto 14July2015

    6:40 AM, 14 July 2015: New Horizons science team first look at Pluto

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    14 July 2015: Glen Fountain (Project Manager), Alan Stern (PI), John Grunsfeld (AA NASA Science Mission Directorate)

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    14 July 2015: Karl Whittenburg and Alice Bowman responding to "phone home" data that New Horizons successfully traveled through the Pluto system

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    14 July 2014 — Alice Bowman and Alan Stern: telemetry that New Horizons ( data banks full ) successfully flew through the Pluto system

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    19 January 2006: Dr. Alan Stern, New Horizons Principal Investigator, 2 hours after launch at NASA Kennedy Space Center with a Hubble Telescope image of the then known Pluto system ...

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    16 July 2015 and 9.6 years later: Dr. Alan Stern, New Horizons Principal Investigator with the first full frame image of Pluto

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    + 24 hours, 15July 2015 JHU Applied Physics Lab: Pluto plasma scientist Dr. Ralph McNutt and team

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    Encounter + 1, July 15: Cathy Olkin and Todd Lauer discussing image of Charon.

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    + 48 hours -16 July 2015: Dr Randy Gladstone - New Horizons Atmospheres Team Lead

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    Encounter + 3,July 17: astrophysicist Dr. Brian May (yes, from Queen!), with the Geology and Geophysics team

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    17 July 2016: the New Horizons Geology and Geophysics team 72 hours after the Pluto system encounter

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    29 July 2015: the New Horizons Team with Glen Fountain, Project Manager; Alice Bowman, Mission Operations Manager; Alan Stern, Principal Investigator; Hal Weaver, Project Scientist— 14 days after the first successful reconnaissance of the Pluto system