New Horizons on Track for Jupiter

By Tariq Malik
published

Reaching for Pluto: NASA Launches Probe to Solar System's Edge
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft launches into space on a mission to the planet Pluto and beyond on Jan. 19, 2006. (Image credit: NASA.)

Aspacecraft headed for the Solar System's edge has aimed itself at the planetJupiter in a long-distance slingshot on toward Pluto.

NASA's NewHorizons probe fired its thrusters in two brief maneuvers - one on Jan. 30and an earlier event on Jan. 28 - for a total speed change of about 40 miles perhour (or about 18 meters per second). Launchedon Jan. 19, New Horizons carries seven primary instruments on a mission tostudy Pluto, its moons and the icy Kuiper Belt objects beyond the ninth planet.

Athird, final trajectory maneuver is set for Feb. 18, but New Horizons launchplaced it so close to its flight path that the probe has managed save much morehydrazine propellant for later use than expected, APL spokesperson Mike Buckleytold SPACE.com. The probe will swing past Jupiter on Feb. 28, 2007 anduse the planet's gravity as a boost toward Pluto, he added.

"We're on ourway to an exciting Jupiter encounter and a date with destiny at Pluto," saidNew Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern,of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Stern willcelebrate the centennial anniversary of the birth of astronomer ClydeTombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930, on Feb. 4 with a presentation atthe University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.

Tombaughdiscovered Pluto on Feb. 18, 1930 at Flagstaff, Arizona's Lowell Observatory.The University of Kansas' Clyde Tombaugh Observatory is named after theastronomer, who died in 1997. [Click here for moreinformation on the centennial Tombaugh discussion.]

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.