WASHINGTON, July 14. Space probe New Horizons for the first time in the history of space exploration closer to the dwarf planet Pluto at a distance of a million kilometers and continues to rapprochement.
The engineers claim that the station is in “good shape” to carry out its mission – closest approach Pluto in the coming days, reports portal ZN.
Specialists will be only one opportunity to get detailed pictures and other scientific data during the flight of the spacecraft by a dwarf planet. The station is moving so fast that he could not stop and just fly past Pluto today, July 14.
Earth and Pluto share nearly five billion kilometers, and any radio message from the spacecraft comes with a delay of several hours. This means that experts can not control station in real-time, they have to pre-set the automatic sequence of commands.
The algorithm has already been introduced into the computer New Horizons, and on Sunday engineers confirmed that will no longer send any additional commands.
“This is one of the key moments in the history of space exploration. The successful convergence of Pluto will complete an initial study of the” classic “nine planets of the solar system,” – said the expert.
New Horizons – automatic interplanetary station NASA, launched in the framework of the “New Frontier” (New Frontiers) and intended for the study of Pluto and its moon Charon natural. The launch was done January 19, 2006, with a span of Jupiter (and the gravitational maneuver in its gravitational field) in 2007 and Pluto – in 2015.
After the flyby of Pluto unit may explore one of the Kuiper belt objects . Complete the mission station New Horizons is designed for 15-17 years.
New Horizons space probe left Earth’s vicinity with the greatest of all the spacecraft velocity. At shut down, it was 16.26 km / s (relative to the Earth). Heliocentric speed of 45 km / s, which would allow the station to leave the New Horizons of the solar system, even without gravity assist.
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