Power near Pluto: 228 watts
Data transfer rate of Pluto: 768bps.
Cost: 700 million US dollars, and the launch process cost 550 million US dollars.
Size specification: 0.7m, about 2. 1m in length, about 2.7m at the widest point, and the detector weighs 478kg when launching.
Power: 10.9 kg plutonium radioactive decay provides energy.
The whole probe ship, including propellant, weighs about 450 kg (1000 lb).
Nuclear power generators are provided by the US Department of Energy.
The heat preservation cabin ensures that all instruments and machinery can work in a safe environment.
The shipboard regenerative ranging memory used for the first time will collect 30 dB more data.
Eight different identification signals are used to display the health status of the probe ship.
Advanced digital receiver can save 60% power consumption.
Equipped with three-dimensional stereo phase and gyroscope.
Sixteen nozzles are used to control the position of the hull, so as to correct the channel, observe the target and change the direction to approach the objects in the Kuiper Belt.
Using the improved "dormant" device, precious fuels including nuclear batteries can be saved.
Other main auxiliary instruments include: star tracker and data recorder.
Carrying part of the ashes of clyde tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, one side is the American flag, and the other side is a CD engraved with the names of nearly 450,000 signed users of the website "Fly to Pluto".
High-definition color maps and equipment (Ralph) composed of Pluto and Pluto's surface. The equipment is mainly composed of multi-spectral visible light imaging camera (MVIC) and linear standard imaging spectral array (LEISA). MVIC works in the visible range, and it has four different filters. One is used to measure methane frost distributed on the surface, and the others cover blue, red and near infrared spectral regions respectively. In addition, there are two panchromatic filters, which can let all visible light pass through when measuring distant objects in dim light, thus maximizing the sensitivity of the instrument. The light passing through the filter is focused on the electric coupling device, and a color map can be generated by the camera. LEISA works in the infrared spectrum by thermal radiation. It can bend different wavelengths of light in different proportions like a prism, so that each light can be analyzed separately. According to quantum physics, different molecules radiate and absorb light with different wavelengths. Therefore, by analyzing the components of light, different molecules can be identified. It will be used to describe the distribution of methane frost, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, water and water ice on Pluto.
Radioactive experimental instrument (REX). It consists of a small printed circuit board, and advanced electronic equipment is integrated into the communication system of the detector. All telecommunication links such as the transmission of scientific data from the detector to the earth are completed through it, which is of great significance to the success of the detection task. When the probe flies to Pluto, its 83-inch radio antenna will point to the earth. Nasa's powerful deep space network radio transmitter aims at the New Horizon detector and sends signals to it. When the probe flies to the back of Pluto, Pluto's atmosphere will bend radio waves, and the degree of bending depends on the average weight of gas molecules and the atmospheric temperature. At this time, the instrument will send the recorded radio wave data back to Earth for analysis. The instrument also has a radiation measurement mode, which can measure the weak electromagnetic radiation of Pluto itself. This radiation measurement can accurately measure the night temperature of Pluto when the probe looks back after flying over Pluto.
Ultraviolet imaging spectrometer (Alice). Used to detect the atmospheric composition of Pluto, it can not only separate the light emitted by different components like a prism, but also form images of detected objects with different wavelengths.
Remote survey imager (LORRI). It consists of a 20.8 cm telescope, which can focus visible light on the electric coupling device and produce high spatial resolution images. When the probe reaches the closest point of Pluto, it will take a high-resolution image.
Solar wind analyzer (SWAP). It can be used to measure charged particles in the solar wind near Pluto to determine whether the planet has a magnetic field and its atmospheric escape velocity.
High energy particle spectrometer. It can be used to find neutral atoms escaping from Pluto's atmosphere. After escaping, these atoms interact with the solar wind and become charged particles.
Dust counter (SDC). It will measure the size of dust particles produced by the collision of comet debris with objects in the Kuiper Belt along the orbit, including the interstellar space that has never been sampled. These instruments will paint a brand-new image for this distant planet during the flight of New Horizon to Pluto. The power of the New Horizon probe ship comes from a nuclear battery. This kind of generator uses the heat released by the natural decay of radioactive isotope plutonium dioxide to generate electricity in the form of electric heating angle. Because Pluto is too far away from the sun, it takes four hours for sunlight to travel from the sun to Pluto, and the acceptable solar energy near Pluto is only one thousandth of that of the earth. The probe ship can't use solar energy to generate enough active energy, so nuclear battery is the only choice. In fact, all outer space probes have adopted the same design, including the Cassini probe ship.
The probe ship has an engine to provide steering power to adjust the phase of the probe ship, and it can be corrected to Pluto's orbit in almost ten years. When the probe ship approaches Pluto, it is necessary to adjust the hull so that all probes point to Pluto. After flying over Pluto, it is necessary to adjust the hull to observe Ka Rong. After the detection is completed, the hull needs to be adjusted again, so that the high-gain antenna points to the earth and transmits the collected data back to the earth. This design is limited by budget. The New Horizon probe ship can't use the rotating platform like Voyager I and Voyager II, and can only simply execute the instructions and complete the task by adjusting the hull phase. The Pluto probe "New Horizon" was carried by the American Altas -V55 1 rocket, launched from the 4 1 launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Florida, USA, and was pushed out of outer space, then sent into orbit around the earth by the Centaur rocket, and finally by the Star -48B (.
(The initial launch speed is 59,384 kilometers per hour). It takes less than 9 hours to fly over the moon and circle the earth, and it takes only 13 months to reach Jupiter's gravitational region. Compared with the same voyage of Apollo 1960s, it takes three days to fly once and four years for Galileo to fly to Jupiter. The speed of new horizons is amazing.