Ball Aerospace Delivers Imaging Instrument For NASA's Mission To Pluto

OUTER PLANETS

Illustration of NASA's proposed New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission.

Boulder CO (SPX) Apr 12, 2005
Ball Aerospace has delivered a high-resolution digital imager/spectrometer to the Southwest Research Institute and its partner, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, for flight aboard NASA's New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission.

Code-named Ralph, the instrument is designed to collect high resolution black and white and color images, and surface composition and temperature maps of Pluto, its moon Charon, and images of celestial bodies deep in the Kuiper Belt, far beyond Pluto's orbit.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manages NASA's New Frontiers Program, which includes the Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission. Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) is implementing the mission.

Dr. Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), is the mission's principal investigator.

According to President and CEO David Taylor, "Ralph is a critical instrument for the success of the New Horizons mission and a milestone for our company, since it will go deeper into space than any previous spacecraft or instrument built by Ball Aerospace."

As part of the New Horizons mission to Pluto, Ralph is one of seven instruments that will enable scientists to better understand the last unexplored planet at the edge of our solar system.

According to Dr. Stern, "Ralph is the centerpiece of the New Horizons payload and it will revolutionize what we know about Pluto, Charon, and Kuiper Belt objects."

Because of Pluto's great distance from the Sun-32 times farther than Earth's�Ralph's digital imaging capabilities aredesigned to obtain data at light levels 1,000 times more faint than daylight on Earth.

Small but robust, Ralph weighs only 24 pounds, and draws less than seven watts of electricity when operating, or just enough to run a household nightlight.

The New Horizons mission is scheduled to launch in January 2006. As a warm-up to Pluto, the spacecraft will also conduct new surveys of Jupiter on its path to the outer reaches of the solar system.

The mission is expected to intercept the distant Pluto and Charon in July 2015.

After this rendezvous, the spacecraft will then fly deep into the Kuiper Belt, an extensive billion-mile-wide body of miniature planets, comets and debris believed to have been formed at the genesis of the solar system.

OUTERPLANETS

Pluto's Horizon Gets Page One Treatment At NASA.gov

Washington DC (SPX) Mar 11, 2005
In March 1930 the Lowell Observatory in Arizona announced the discovery of a small, odd world, roaming beyond the known planets in a region barely visible through the most powerful telescopes.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.