The New Horizons Pluto Kuiper belt Mission: An Overview with Historical Context

Understand

NASA's New Horizons (NH) Pluto-Kuiper belt (PKB) mission was launched on 19 January 2006 on a Jupiter Gravity Assist (JGA) trajectory toward the Pluto system for a 14 July 2015 closest approach; Jupiter closest approach occurred on 28 February 2007.

• It was competitively selected by NASA for development on 29 November 2001.
• New Horizons is the first mission to the Pluto system and the Kuiper belt; and will complete the reconnaissance of the classical planets.
• The ~400 kg spacecraft carries seven scientific instruments, including imagers, spectrometers, radio science, a plasma and particles suite, and a dust counter built by university students.