New Horizons "stellar" course?

wrote:
On Friday, January 4, 2019 at 8:51:04 AM UTC-5, JBI wrote:
Cannot find this information anywhere, but curious where New Horizons
would be heading in the long term, in other words what star? And also
are there any more visits to other objects planned besides the latest?
Thank you.

It seems to be heading in the general direction of Xi 1,2 Sagittarii,
less than a degree to the east of those stars, perhaps.

Different from the Pioneer and Voyager probes (and the future Project
Breakthrough Starshot), New Horizons is (currently) not supposed to leave
the Sol system in the first place, but to investigate Kuiper Belt objects
“at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit”. (Originally it was not
even supposed to explore beyond Pluto–Charon; the Kuiper Belt mission is
already the mission extension).

Read the mission description before you jump to conclusions (extrapolate a
trajectory) only from a *current* heading.

--
PointedEars

Twitter: @PointedEars2
Please do not cc me. / Bitte keine Kopien per E-Mail.

On Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 9:46:43 AM UTC-5, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:
wrote:
On Friday, January 4, 2019 at 8:51:04 AM UTC-5, JBI wrote:
Cannot find this information anywhere, but curious where New Horizons
would be heading in the long term, in other words what star? And also
are there any more visits to other objects planned besides the latest?
Thank you.

It seems to be heading in the general direction of Xi 1,2 Sagittarii,
less than a degree to the east of those stars, perhaps.

Different from the Pioneer and Voyager probes (and the future Project
Breakthrough Starshot), New Horizons is (currently) not supposed to leave
the Sol system in the first place, but to investigate Kuiper Belt objects
“at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit�.. (Originally it was not
even supposed to explore beyond Pluto–Charon; the Kuiper Belt mission is
already the mission extension).

Read the mission description before you jump to conclusions (extrapolate a
trajectory) only from a *current* heading.

The thing is heading OUT of the Solar System on an interstellar trajectory. Its current heading is approximately the same one it had after it had passed Pluto-Charon in July 2015. Unless it hits something substantial, it's gone.

wrote:
On Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 9:46:43 AM UTC-5, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:
wrote:
On Friday, January 4, 2019 at 8:51:04 AM UTC-5, JBI wrote:
Cannot find this information anywhere, but curious where New Horizons
would be heading in the long term, in other words what star? And also
are there any more visits to other objects planned besides the latest?
Thank you.
It seems to be heading in the general direction of Xi 1,2 Sagittarii,
less than a degree to the east of those stars, perhaps.

Different from the Pioneer and Voyager probes (and the future Project
Breakthrough Starshot), New Horizons is (currently) not supposed to leave
the Sol system in the first place, but to investigate Kuiper Belt objects
“at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit”. (Originally it was not
even supposed to explore beyond Pluto–Charon; the Kuiper Belt mission is
already the mission extension).

Read the mission description before you jump to conclusions (extrapolate a
trajectory) only from a *current* heading.

The thing is heading OUT of the Solar System on an interstellar trajectory.

Repeating nonsense does not make it true. That the *current* heading of NH
is away from Sol does not mean that it has to be so *in the future*. And it
does not mean that it is heading towards any particular other star. Not
only was it never supposed to, but, put simply, space is big.

How did you get this idea of “in the general direction of Xi 1,2 Sagittarii,
less than a degree to the east of those stars, perhaps” anyway?

Its current heading is approximately the same one it had after it had passed
Pluto-Charon in July 2015. Unless it hits something substantial, it's gone.

We will see. Ultima Thule is 43.23 AU away from Sol. The Kuiper Belt is
estimated to have a radius of 50 AU. The termination shock is at 75 AU to
90 AU. The heliopause is at 120 AU. The Sol System’s Hill sphere has a
radius of up to 3 ly. NH does have 4 × 4.4 N thrusters for trajectory
corrections; the Voyagers had only 4 × 0.89 N each.


Once again this has nothing to do with amateur astronomy; except of the fact
that several astronomy amateurs here are actually attempting to teach people
who are studying or have studied astrophysics…

--
PointedEars

Twitter: @PointedEars2
Please do not cc me. / Bitte keine Kopien per E-Mail.

On Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 12:50:25 PM UTC-5, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:
wrote:
On Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 9:46:43 AM UTC-5, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:
wrote:
On Friday, January 4, 2019 at 8:51:04 AM UTC-5, JBI wrote:
Cannot find this information anywhere, but curious where New Horizons
would be heading in the long term, in other words what star? And also
are there any more visits to other objects planned besides the latest?
Thank you.
It seems to be heading in the general direction of Xi 1,2 Sagittarii,
less than a degree to the east of those stars, perhaps.

Different from the Pioneer and Voyager probes (and the future Project
Breakthrough Starshot), New Horizons is (currently) not supposed to leave
the Sol system in the first place, but to investigate Kuiper Belt objects
“at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit�. (Originally it was not
even supposed to explore beyond Pluto–Charon; the Kuiper Belt mission is
already the mission extension).

Read the mission description before you jump to conclusions (extrapolate a
trajectory) only from a *current* heading.

The thing is heading OUT of the Solar System on an interstellar trajectory.

Repeating nonsense does not make it true.

You are living proof.

That the *current* heading of NH
is away from Sol does not mean that it has to be so *in the future*. And it
does not mean that it is heading towards any particular other star. Not
only was it never supposed to, but, put simply, space is big.

How did you get this idea of “in the general direction of Xi 1,2 Sagittarii,
less than a degree to the east of those stars, perhaps� anyway?


Find out where on the "celestial sphere" Pluto was in July 2015. Find out what stars are in that area. That's roughly where the spacecraft is going.


Its current heading is approximately the same one it had after it had passed
Pluto-Charon in July 2015. Unless it hits something substantial, it's gone.

We will see. Ultima Thule is 43.23 AU away from Sol. The Kuiper Belt is
estimated to have a radius of 50 AU. The termination shock is at 75 AU to
90 AU. The heliopause is at 120 AU. The Sol System’s Hill sphere has a
radius of up to 3 ly. NH does have 4 × 4.4 N thrusters for trajectory
corrections; the Voyagers had only 4 × 0.89 N each.

The spacecraft was launched on an Altas V that had a third stage. It reached lunar distance from Earth in NINE hours. There can't be enough fuel on the probe to do much more than deflect its trajectory slightly.

On Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 12:50:25 PM UTC-5, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:
wrote:
On Saturday, January 5, 2019 at 9:46:43 AM UTC-5, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:
wrote:
On Friday, January 4, 2019 at 8:51:04 AM UTC-5, JBI wrote:
Cannot find this information anywhere, but curious where New Horizons
would be heading in the long term, in other words what star? And also
are there any more visits to other objects planned besides the latest?
Thank you.
It seems to be heading in the general direction of Xi 1,2 Sagittarii,
less than a degree to the east of those stars, perhaps.

Different from the Pioneer and Voyager probes (and the future Project
Breakthrough Starshot), New Horizons is (currently) not supposed to leave
the Sol system in the first place, but to investigate Kuiper Belt objects
“at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit�. (Originally it was not
even supposed to explore beyond Pluto–Charon; the Kuiper Belt mission is
already the mission extension).

Read the mission description before you jump to conclusions (extrapolate a
trajectory) only from a *current* heading.

The thing is heading OUT of the Solar System on an interstellar trajectory.

Repeating nonsense does not make it true.

You are living proof.

That the *current* heading of NH
is away from Sol does not mean that it has to be so *in the future*. And it
does not mean that it is heading towards any particular other star. Not
only was it never supposed to, but, put simply, space is big.

How did you get this idea of “in the general direction of Xi 1,2 Sagittarii,
less than a degree to the east of those stars, perhaps� anyway?


Find out where on the "celestial sphere" Pluto was in July 2015. Find out what stars are in that area. That's roughly where the spacecraft is going.


Its current heading is approximately the same one it had after it had passed
Pluto-Charon in July 2015. Unless it hits something substantial, it's gone.

We will see. Ultima Thule is 43.23 AU away from Sol. The Kuiper Belt is
estimated to have a radius of 50 AU. The termination shock is at 75 AU to
90 AU. The heliopause is at 120 AU. The Sol System’s Hill sphere has a
radius of up to 3 ly. NH does have 4 × 4.4 N thrusters for trajectory
corrections; the Voyagers had only 4 × 0.89 N each.

The spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V that had a third stage. It reached lunar distance from Earth in NINE hours. There can't be enough fuel on the probe to do much more than deflect its trajectory slightly.

On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 13:53:17 +0100, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn
wrote:

wrote:
On Friday, January 4, 2019 at 8:51:04 AM UTC-5, JBI wrote:
Cannot find this information anywhere, but curious where New Horizons
would be heading in the long term, in other words what star? And also
are there any more visits to other objects planned besides the latest?
Thank you.

It seems to be heading in the general direction of Xi 1,2 Sagittarii,
less than a degree to the east of those stars, perhaps.

Different from the Pioneer and Voyager probes (and the future Project
Breakthrough Starshot), New Horizons is (currently) not supposed to leave
the Sol system in the first place, but to investigate Kuiper Belt objects
“at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit”. (Originally it was not
even supposed to explore beyond Pluto–Charon; the Kuiper Belt mission is
already the mission extension).

Read the mission description before you jump to conclusions (extrapolate a
trajectory) only from a *current* heading.

Think before you post. Whether or not its nearly linear path lines up
closely enough to any additional objects that it can study them is a
matter of luck. Its trajectory is hyperbolic; it WILL leave the Solar
System, and there's no way to change that. It was always understood
that its trajectory would cause it to do so.

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 13:53:17 +0100, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn
wrote:
Different from the Pioneer and Voyager probes (and the future Project
Breakthrough Starshot), New Horizons is (currently) not supposed to leave
the Sol system in the first place, but to investigate Kuiper Belt objects
“at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit”. (Originally it was not
even supposed to explore beyond Pluto–Charon; the Kuiper Belt mission is
already the mission extension).

Read the mission description before you jump to conclusions (extrapolate a
trajectory) only from a *current* heading.

Think before you post.

Likewise.

Whether or not its nearly linear path lines up closely enough to any additional
objects that it can study them is a matter of luck.

You mean probability.

Its trajectory is hyperbolic; it WILL leave the Solar System,
and there's no way to change that.

Incorrect.

It was always understood that its trajectory would cause it to do so.

Since we have almost no idea what is in the Sol System beyond Ultima Thule,
this is not only an unfounded, but utterly ridiculous claim.

It is the purpose of this mission extension to investigate the Kuiper Belt,
not to make an interstellar probe out of NH.

--
PointedEars

Twitter: @PointedEars2
Please do not cc me. / Bitte keine Kopien per E-Mail.

On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 17:04:36 +0100, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn
wrote:

Its trajectory is hyperbolic; it WILL leave the Solar System,
and there's no way to change that.

Incorrect.

Unless you propose that there is another object almost exactly in its
path, and we divert it to strike that object, then there is, in fact,
absolutely nothing we can do to prevent it from leaving the Solar
System.

It was always understood that its trajectory would cause it to do so.

Since we have almost no idea what is in the Sol System beyond Ultima Thule,
this is not only an unfounded, but utterly ridiculous claim.

What are you talking about? How does it matter what else lies in the
outer Solar System?

It is the purpose of this mission extension to investigate the Kuiper Belt,
not to make an interstellar probe out of NH.

We've never had a mission with purpose of being an interstellar probe.
The fact that some have become so is secondary to the trajectories
that were created in order for them to perform their mission within
the Solar System.

Neither Pioneer nor Voyager were designed to leave the Solar System.
There was simply no way to keep them in a closed orbit around the Sun.

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 17:04:36 +0100, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn
wrote:
Its trajectory is hyperbolic; it WILL leave the Solar System,
and there's no way to change that.
Incorrect.

Unless you propose that there is another object almost exactly in its
path, and we divert it to strike that object, then there is, in fact,
absolutely nothing we can do to prevent it from leaving the Solar
System.

No supporting argument or evidence, just more claims.

It was always understood that its trajectory would cause it to do so.

Since we have almost no idea what is in the Sol System beyond Ultima Thule,
this is not only an unfounded, but utterly ridiculous claim.

What are you talking about? How does it matter what else lies in the
outer Solar System?

Do not try to shift the burden of proof. How can it NOT matter?

Neither Pioneer nor Voyager were designed to leave the Solar System.

Plain wrong. Those plates, and the Voyager Golden Record, had not been made
and attached just for fun.

There was simply no way to keep them in a closed orbit around the Sun.

That much is true, because their trajectories had been *designed* so that,
after exploring the outer planets, the final gravity assist would have them
leave the Sol System in different directions, to carry their message to
whoever extra-terrestrial civilization would find them.

--
PointedEars

Twitter: @PointedEars2
Please do not cc me. / Bitte keine Kopien per E-Mail.

On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 17:42:32 +0100, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn
wrote:

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Sat, 5 Jan 2019 17:04:36 +0100, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn
wrote:
Its trajectory is hyperbolic; it WILL leave the Solar System,
and there's no way to change that.
Incorrect.

Unless you propose that there is another object almost exactly in its
path, and we divert it to strike that object, then there is, in fact,
absolutely nothing we can do to prevent it from leaving the Solar
System.

No supporting argument or evidence, just more claims.

It's a simple fact. It's velocity is a given, and it lacks the fuel
for anything but a tiny delta-V. Tell me how you think it could be
prevented from leaving the Solar System.

It was always understood that its trajectory would cause it to do so.

Since we have almost no idea what is in the Sol System beyond Ultima Thule,
this is not only an unfounded, but utterly ridiculous claim.

What are you talking about? How does it matter what else lies in the
outer Solar System?

Do not try to shift the burden of proof. How can it NOT matter?

Tell me how it matters? Do you perhaps think there is a brick wall out
there it's going to hit? Yeah, there might be. But I'm betting not.

Neither Pioneer nor Voyager were designed to leave the Solar System.

Plain wrong. Those plates, and the Voyager Golden Record, had not been made
and attached just for fun.

All the probes we have built that we knew would leave the system carry
information or material intended for ETs. That includes New Horizons.

There was simply no way to keep them in a closed orbit around the Sun.

That much is true, because their trajectories had been *designed* so that,
after exploring the outer planets, the final gravity assist would have them
leave the Sol System in different directions, to carry their message to
whoever extra-terrestrial civilization would find them.

By the time they were in the outer system, there was no way to return
them. None of these probes could have completed their missions had
their trajectories been designed to be closed solar orbits.