June 13th 05, 05:39 PM
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
Laurel, Maryland
Media contact: Michael Buckley
(240) 228-7536 or (443) 778-7536
June 13, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Note to editors: Images to accompany this release are available at
http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2005/050613.htm
JOURNEY BEGINS FOR NASA's NEW HORIZONS PROBE
APL-Built Pluto Mission Spacecraft Shipped to NASA Goddard for
Pre-launch Tests
The first spacecraft designed to study Pluto, the solar system's
farthest
planet, took the first steps on a long journey today when it was
shipped
from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in
Laurel, Md. -- where it was designed and built -- to NASA's Goddard
Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for its next round of pre-launch
tests.
Proposed for launch in January 2006, the New Horizons spacecraft spent
the
past week in an APL vibration test lab, where engineers checked the
structural integrity of the piano-sized probe aboard a large shake
table.
The table simulated the energetic ride New Horizons would encounter
during
liftoff aboard an Atlas V, one of the largest launch vehicles NASA
uses.
"Our testing program is off to a good start," says Glen Fountain, New
Horizons project manager at APL. "We've shown that New Horizons is
structurally ready for the ride on the launch vehicle, and now we'll
test
it in the full range of conditions it would face on the voyage to
Pluto;
Pluto's moon, Charon; and beyond."
Over the next three months at Goddard, the mission team will check New
Horizons' balance and alignment in a series of spin tests; put it
before
wall-sized speakers that simulate the noise-induced vibrations of
launch;
and seal it in a four-story thermal-vacuum chamber that duplicates the
extreme hot, cold and airless conditions of space. This fall the team
plans
to transport New Horizons to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for final
launch
preparations.
"The scientific community has put high priority on exploring the
frontier
that is the Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt beyond," says Dr. Alan
Stern,
New Horizons principal investigator, from the Southwest Research
Institute
in Boulder, Colo. "With the move of New Horizons from APL to NASA's
Goddard
Space Flight Center, we are closer to achieving this historic
exploration."
Pending completion of environmental reviews and launch approvals, the
spacecraft would launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.,
during
a 35-day window that opens Jan. 11, 2006. The boost from the Atlas V
and a
STAR-48B kick motor would send the relatively light New Horizons on the
fastest spacecraft trip ever to the outer solar system, reaching the
moon's
orbit distance less than 9 hours after launch and zooming through the
Jupiter system just 13 months later.
Jupiter's gravity assist would put the 1,000-pound craft on course for
a
five-month-long flyby reconnaissance of Pluto-Charon in summer 2015,
when
the "double planet" would be about 3.1 billion miles from Earth. As
part of
an extended mission, the spacecraft could also head farther into the
Kuiper
Belt to examine one or two of the ancient, icy mini-worlds in the vast
region at least a billion miles beyond Neptune's orbit.
New Horizons is the first mission in NASA's New Frontiers program of
medium-class, high-priority solar system exploration projects, and the
62nd
spacecraft built at APL. As principal investigator, Stern leads a
mission
team that includes APL, Ball Aerospace Corporation, the Boeing Company,
Goddard Space Flight Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Stanford
University, KinetX, Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation, University of
Colorado, the U.S. Department of Energy and a number of other firms,
NASA
centers and university partners.
For more information on the mission, visit http://pluto.jhuapl.edu.
----
The Applied Physics Laboratory, a division of The Johns Hopkins
University,
meets critical national challenges through the innovative application
of
science and technology. For information, visit http://www.jhuapl.edu.
###
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
Laurel, Maryland
Media contact: Michael Buckley
(240) 228-7536 or (443) 778-7536
June 13, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Note to editors: Images to accompany this release are available at
http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2005/050613.htm
JOURNEY BEGINS FOR NASA's NEW HORIZONS PROBE
APL-Built Pluto Mission Spacecraft Shipped to NASA Goddard for
Pre-launch Tests
The first spacecraft designed to study Pluto, the solar system's
farthest
planet, took the first steps on a long journey today when it was
shipped
from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in
Laurel, Md. -- where it was designed and built -- to NASA's Goddard
Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for its next round of pre-launch
tests.
Proposed for launch in January 2006, the New Horizons spacecraft spent
the
past week in an APL vibration test lab, where engineers checked the
structural integrity of the piano-sized probe aboard a large shake
table.
The table simulated the energetic ride New Horizons would encounter
during
liftoff aboard an Atlas V, one of the largest launch vehicles NASA
uses.
"Our testing program is off to a good start," says Glen Fountain, New
Horizons project manager at APL. "We've shown that New Horizons is
structurally ready for the ride on the launch vehicle, and now we'll
test
it in the full range of conditions it would face on the voyage to
Pluto;
Pluto's moon, Charon; and beyond."
Over the next three months at Goddard, the mission team will check New
Horizons' balance and alignment in a series of spin tests; put it
before
wall-sized speakers that simulate the noise-induced vibrations of
launch;
and seal it in a four-story thermal-vacuum chamber that duplicates the
extreme hot, cold and airless conditions of space. This fall the team
plans
to transport New Horizons to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for final
launch
preparations.
"The scientific community has put high priority on exploring the
frontier
that is the Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt beyond," says Dr. Alan
Stern,
New Horizons principal investigator, from the Southwest Research
Institute
in Boulder, Colo. "With the move of New Horizons from APL to NASA's
Goddard
Space Flight Center, we are closer to achieving this historic
exploration."
Pending completion of environmental reviews and launch approvals, the
spacecraft would launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.,
during
a 35-day window that opens Jan. 11, 2006. The boost from the Atlas V
and a
STAR-48B kick motor would send the relatively light New Horizons on the
fastest spacecraft trip ever to the outer solar system, reaching the
moon's
orbit distance less than 9 hours after launch and zooming through the
Jupiter system just 13 months later.
Jupiter's gravity assist would put the 1,000-pound craft on course for
a
five-month-long flyby reconnaissance of Pluto-Charon in summer 2015,
when
the "double planet" would be about 3.1 billion miles from Earth. As
part of
an extended mission, the spacecraft could also head farther into the
Kuiper
Belt to examine one or two of the ancient, icy mini-worlds in the vast
region at least a billion miles beyond Neptune's orbit.
New Horizons is the first mission in NASA's New Frontiers program of
medium-class, high-priority solar system exploration projects, and the
62nd
spacecraft built at APL. As principal investigator, Stern leads a
mission
team that includes APL, Ball Aerospace Corporation, the Boeing Company,
Goddard Space Flight Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Stanford
University, KinetX, Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation, University of
Colorado, the U.S. Department of Energy and a number of other firms,
NASA
centers and university partners.
For more information on the mission, visit http://pluto.jhuapl.edu.
----
The Applied Physics Laboratory, a division of The Johns Hopkins
University,
meets critical national challenges through the innovative application
of
science and technology. For information, visit http://www.jhuapl.edu.
###