 |
 |
||
 |
|
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
 |
Planetary News: New Horizons (2006)No Go for New Horizons on First Day of Launch WindowBy Amir Alexander17 January 2006 The start of New Horizons' long journey to Pluto will be delayed for at least one more day, as excessive ground winds forced the cancellation of today's launch. Today's attempt marked the opening of a launch period that will last through February 14, 2006. If New Horizons launches at any time before February 3, it will be able to take advantage of a gravitational assist from Jupiter, which will send it on a relatively quick trip to Pluto. A launch before January 29 will ensure the spacecraft's arrival on Pluto in the summer of 2015. reach Pluto in the summer of 2015, whereas a launch between January 29 and February will see New Horizons at Pluto in the summer of 2016 or 2017. If New Horizons launches after February 3 it will head directly to Pluto and, without a gravity assist from Jupiter, will arrive there between 2018 and 2020.
This morning launch was put on hold several times, as mission controllers at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, closely monitored both ground level and high altitude winds. In the end it came down to the very final minute of the launch window, 2:23pm Eastern Standard Time, when mission controllers tried one last time to send the mission on its way. But with less than 2 minutes remaining in the countdown, the ground level wind was determined to be inexcess of the safety limits, and the launch was scrubbed. The launch window tomorrow, January 18, 2006, will open at 1:16pm EST, and close at 3:15pm EST. Follow the mission daily on Emily Lakdawalla's blog, and learn more about the story of the mission and why we are going to Pluto. |
||||||
 |
 |
||||||
[ what is this? ]