Artist's concept of the
New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Pluto and
its three moons in summer 2015. The craft's miniature
cameras, radio science experiment, ultraviolet and
infrared spectrometers and space plasma experiments
would characterize the global geology and geomorphology
of Pluto and large moon Charon, map their surface compositions
and temperatures, and examine Pluto's atmosphere in
detail. The spacecraft's most prominent design feature
is a nearly 7-foot (2.1-meter) dish antenna, through
which it will communicate with Earth from as far as
4.7 billion miles (7.5 billion kilometers) away.
Credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research
Institute (JHUAPL/SwRI) |
