New Horizons 2

New Horizons 2 (also New Horizons II, NHII, or NH2) was a proposed mission to the trans-Neptunian objects by NASA. It was conceived as a planetary flyby mission in 2002, based on the New Horizons spacecraft, which was in development at the time.[1][2] In March 2005, the proposal was not selected for further development because of a shortage of plutonium-238 needed for the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG).[3] The New Horizons 2 study was funded out of the New Frontiers program, and was delivered to the U.S. Congress in June 2005.[4]

Design of the first New Horizons spacecraft

Description

New Horizons 2 was included in the tentative budget for the New Frontiers program missions.[5] In 2004 the United States Senate Appropriations Committee provided additional funding for New Horizons 2, a new Kuiper belt mission.[6] As early as 2004 there was a conference on how to make the most use of New Horizons 2's Uranus flyby.[7]

Candidate targets included 47171 Lempo, a system that, like Pluto–Charon, contains multiple bodies.[5] The mission plan for Lempo also included flybys of Jupiter and Uranus,[5] and perhaps four Kuiper belt objects (KBO).[8] There was a lot of flexibility: even without a gravity assist any KBO within 50 AU and a 20-year flight time was possible.[9] A flyby of Neptune's Triton was also considered, with 66652 Borasisi as a potential follow on.[9] 2002 UX25 was also considered to be visited, having a similar orbit as Lempo.[10]

See also

References
  1. "New Horizons II (2004-2005) | Wired Science | Wired.com". 2012-05-26. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  2. Stern, Alan; Binzel, Rick; et al. "New Horizons 2" (PDF). Lunar and Planetary Institute. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  3. New Horizons II Final Report - March 2005
  4. "Presentation: SSE Decadal Survey and New Horizons: A Rough Start" (PDF). June 2005.
  5. Czysz, Paul A.; Bruno, Claudio (2009-03-20). Future Spacecraft Propulsion Systems: Enabling Technologies for Space Exploration. Springer. p. 378. ISBN 9783540888147.
  6. Stern, Alan (October 5, 2004). "New Horizons For Planetary Exploration". Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  7. Afoot-- Cheaper, More Frequent Outer Planets Missions - New Horizons II Workshop
  8. Stern, Alan; et al. "New Horizons 2" (pdf). NASA (Outer Planets Assessment Group). Retrieved 13 May 2012. parent
  9. Final Report of the New Horizons II Review Panel
  10. http://spaceflighthistory.blogspot.ca/2015/07/new-horizons-ii-2004-2005.html
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