The calculations of the team of scientists from the South-West Research Institute showed that the future mission to Pluto will not only be able to study in detail the dwarf planet, its largest satellite Charon and all the other small moons, but then, going to the Kuiper belt, move from object to to the object. The presentation of the future project was presented at the 50th annual meeting of the Department of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in Knoxville (USA).
This is amazing! Previously, NASA and the scientific planetary community believed that the first step in exploring the Kuiper belt objects would be the choice between in-depth study of Pluto and its satellites and the broad mission to study small objects and other dwarf planets in the depths of the Solar System. However, our research shows that the rules of the game have changed and there is no need to choose.
-Alan Stern, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission from the Southwestern Research Institute (USA)
At the first stage, the team calculated how numerous key scientific tasks can be achieved using Charon’s gravitational maneuvers, which will allow the spacecraft to repeatedly change its orbit to study various aspects of Pluto, its five satellites and the solar wind force over several years. Then the engineers looked at whether it was possible to leave the system of the dwarf planet without using fuel thanks to the same Charon and to send the spacecraft to the Kuiper belt to study other space bodies.
So far the proposed route has not been optimized, but it has shown the possibility of at least five overflights of each of the four small moons of Pluto, the study of the polar and equatorial regions of the dwarf planet, and the extensive study of Charon. In addition, we considered the possibility of passing a spacecraft through the atmosphere of Pluto for sampling before being sent to the Kuiper belt for new assignments.
-Tiffany Finley, who heads the software development department at the Southwestern Research Institute
Scientists note that ionic engines, such as those used by NASA’s Dawn mission, will allow the future spacecraft to successively go into the orbits of known Kuiper belt objects, including some dwarf planets.
Over the next few months, the team plans to publish more data describing the requirements for the design and systems of the spacecraft, which are necessary to perform such ambitious tasks to study remote corners of the solar system.
Future mission to Pluto
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