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Space Topics: New Horizons

Science Instruments

New Horizons carries seven science instruments.  They will be used to map the geology, geomorphology, composition, and temperatures of Pluto and Charon, and how their atmospheres interact with the Sun and the space around them.  It is the most capable suite of instruments ever to have been launched on a first reconnaissance mission.  (The last such mission was the Voyagers' tour of the outer planets, launched in 1977.)

Ralph is the main camera system.  It will capture high resolution color maps and surface composition maps of Pluto and Charon using a telescope with a 3-inch aperture. It has two channels.  The first is the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC), which uses visible light wavelengths to map methane distribution, red, green, and near infrared light, as well as two super-sensitive panchromatic filters.  The Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) is its second channel.  It operates at near infrared wavelengths and will map the distribution of methane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water ices on the surface of Pluto and the water frost distribution of Charon.

Diagram of the New Horizons spacecraft
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Diagram of the New Horizons spacecraft
Credit: NASA / JHUAPL

Alice is an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer.  It breaks up ultraviolet light into 1,024 different spectral "bands," permitting scientists to determine the composition of Pluto's atmosphere (and Charon's, if it has one).  It is similar to the UVIS instrument aboard Cassini.  It can create multispectral maps or be used to watch a bright star or the Sun pass behind the atmosphere and detect how the chemical species in the atmosphere absorb ultraviolet light.

Radio Science Experiment (REX) is coupled to New Horizons' telecommunications system.  As with all space missions, extremely precise tracking of a stable signal from the spacecraft can yield valuable data on atmospheric pressures and temperatures as well as the masses of planets and moons.

Hubble's Map of the Surface of Pluto
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Hubble's Map of the Surface of Pluto
This global view was calculated from many Hubble Space Telescope photos captured over Pluto's rotation in 1994. It is centered at 112°E. Source Credit: Alan Stern, Mark Buie, NASA, ESA

Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) will provide the highest-resolution images from New Horizons.  It consists of a telescope with an 8.2-inch (20.8-centimeter) aperture that focuses visible light onto a charge coupled device (CCD). Acting like a telephoto camera, it will be able to return the first images of Pluto.  Three months before closest approach, LORRI images will surpass Hubble's in their quality.  At close range, LORRI will return the highest-resolution pictures of Pluto and Charon, resolving features as small as 50 meters across.

Solar Wind Analyzer around Pluto (SWAP) will detect charged particles around Pluto.  This can be used to determine how fast Pluto’s atmosphere is leaking into space.

Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Investigation (PEPSSI) will search for neutral atoms that escape Pluto’s atmosphere and become charged by their interaction with solar wind particles.  PEPSSI will be the first instrument to detect Pluto's atmosphere.

Finally, the Student Dust Counter (SDC) will measure and count the size of dust particles that the New Horizons mission encounters on its journey, along its entire flight trajectory.  At Pluto, it will study the dust in the Pluto system that arises from impacts onto Pluto and its moons.  It was built and will be operated by students at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the first science instrument on a NASA planetary mission to be design, built, and "flown" by students.