New Horizons mission to PlutoCanberra Deep Space Communication Complex – making space history

CSIRO ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCE

13 July 2015

What is the New Horizons mission?

Glen NagleOutreach and Administration Lead, Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, CSIRO

What is the New Horizons mission?

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• New Horizons is NASA’s first mission to reach and explore the distant world of Pluto and its family of five moons.

• Video: New Horizons Will Shed More Light on Pluto Than Ever Before https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyMzPnoUmBk (2:40)

New Horizons

• NASA and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

• 9 ½ years and 5.3 billion km• First mission to Pluto and the

Kuiper Belt• Fastest spacecraft ever launched

from Earth• Farthest distance a spacecraft has

travelled to begin its primary science mission

• Closest approach during flyby is 12, 500km from Pluto’s surface

• Less than 24 hours in the Pluto system

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What is Australia’s role?

Dr Ed KruzinsDirector, Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, CSIRO

Australia’s role

• 50 year relationship with NASA• Part of NASA-JPL’s Deep Space

Network (DSN)• Prime tracking station• Closest encounter occurs 14

July (tomorrow night)• CDSCC as part of the DSN is a

vital communication link• Our highly skilled people are

critical to success• NH operating for another

decade

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• CDSCC is part of the DSN network of antennas that will participate in this historic NH event.

• We will be the prime encounter site, but will hand over to our sister DSN sites as the Earth orientation changes.

Why is this discovery important?

Lewis BallDirector, Astronomy and Space Science, CSIRO

Importance of New Horizons mission

• Historic exploration• Understand worlds at the edge of our solar system• Pluto holds important clues• Pluto’s atmosphere is escaping• Enable us to fill in knowledge gaps

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Discoveries so far…

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Observations and data returned from New Horizons, has already:

• Greatly improved our knowledge Pluto’s precise location• Refined knowledge about the size and position of the 4 orbiting moons

(Charon, Nix, Hydra, Styx and Kerberos)• New Horizons’ data has revealed the existence of methane ice on Pluto

(methane is an organic molecule)• New Horizons’ images have started to uncover intriguing details of the

surfaces of Pluto and Charon.• New Horizons’ images have shown Pluto has a reddish appearance in

areas and large mysterious dark spots up to 500kms across• Pluto’s largest moon Charon is greyish in colour, which is a surprise to

the science team. It means that it is very different from Pluto’s composition.

• New and latest info on mission website http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Archives.php

Thank you Q&A’s

Glen NagleOutreach and Administration Lead, Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, CSIRO

t +61 2 6201 7838e glen.nagle@csiro.au

Ed Kruzins

Director, Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, CSIRO

t +61 2 9123 4567e ed.kruzins@csiro.au

Lewis BallDirector, CSIRO Astronomy and Space

Science

t +61 2 9372 4300e lewis.ball@csiro.au

MEDIA CONTACT: Indra Tomic - Communication Manager, National Facilities & Collections+61 8 6436 8809 / 0404 023 806 / indra.tomic@csiro.au