New Horizons space probe
New Horizons is an ancient human-built space probe that was used by NASA to study Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. It launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard an Atlas V rocket on January 19, 2006. It is the fifth artificial object to leave the Sol system.[1] Its current location can be revealed using the Full Spectrum System Scanner.
Mission[]
New Horizons' primary mission was to perform a flyby study of Pluto. Its secondary mission was to fly by and study various Kuiper belt objects.[2]
It conducted a six-month-long reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons in the summer of 2015, culminating with Pluto closest approach on July 14, 2015.[3]
The space probe helped humans to better understand worlds at the edge of Sol, such as the surface properties, geology, interior makeup and atmospheres on Kuiper Belt bodies.[3]
Location[]
Astronomers based in the Sol system believed they detected a signal from New Horizons on 12 April 3304. One of the astronomers responsible for the find said: “New Horizons was launched over a thousand years ago, so this is potentially quite an exciting discovery. We haven’t been able to pinpoint the object’s precise location, but our data indicates that it is approximately 1,726,716 light seconds from the sun and 1,526,050 light seconds from 90377 Sedna. Perhaps some intrepid explorer will seek it out, and confirm our suspicions!”[2]
Within hours of this announcement, New Horizons was located by CMDR Rikske66 and CMDR Ilodev. It appears in the Navigation panel as "Ancient Probe" when within 1,000 ls. The discoverers noted that the simplest means of locating New Horizons was to travel exactly 1,726,716 ls in the direction of the Wregoe QD-W b58-1 system from Sol.[4]
Since December 11, 3304, the Full Spectrum System Scanner has allowed New Horizons to be quickly and easily located from anywhere in Sol. The probe is treated as a signal source and can be detected when focusing the FSS Scanner on low-frequency signals on the left end of the spectrum.
Videos[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ "New Horizons to Pluto, Mission Website". US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Signal Could be Ancient Probe - 12 APR 3304
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 New Horizons: The First Mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper Belt
- ↑ /r/EliteDangerous: New Horizons has been found