{"id":791167,"date":"2024-11-14T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=791167"},"modified":"2024-11-14T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T17:00:00","slug":"a-new-mission-to-pluto-could-answer-the-questions-raised-by-new-horizons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=791167","title":{"rendered":"A New Mission To Pluto Could Answer the Questions Raised by New Horizons"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Pluto may have been downgraded from full-planet status, but that doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t hold a special place in scientist\u2019s hearts. There are practical and sentimental reasons for that \u2013 Pluto has tantalizing mysteries to unlock that New Horizons, the most recent spacecraft to visit the system, only added to. To research those mysteries, a multidisciplinary team from dozens of universities and research institutes has proposed Persephone \u2013 a mission to the Pluto system that could last 50 years.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-169314\"\/><\/p>\n<p>New Horizons rocketed past the Pluto system in 2015, which is now technically considered part of the Kuiper Belt. The mission collected data on the dwarf planet and its unique moon, Charon. Scientists have now had time to analyze the data from that mission, and it left them wanting more\u2014in particular, data about some of the surface features that they observed.<\/p>\n<p>Persephone has four main scientific questions it is designed to answer, according to a paper published back in 2021:<\/p>\n<p>1) \u201cHow has the population of the Kuiper Belt evolved?\u201d<br \/>2) \u201cWhat are the particle and magnetic field environments of the Kuiper Belt?\u201d<br \/>3) \u201cHow have the surfaces of both Pluto and Charon changed?\u201d<br \/>4) \u201cWhat are the internal structures of Pluto and Charon?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What Did We Learn About Pluto? Highlights from NASA&#039;s New Horizons MIssion\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pbxmjz3GNTE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fraser discusses what we learned about Pluto from New Horizons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That last one might be the most intriguing, as the answer for Pluto\u2019s internal structure might be that it has a subsurface ocean despite being so far away from the Sun. There is already some evidence for this, as Pluto appears to have an active surface, and an ice sheet called Sputnik Planitia could potentially be caused by a subsurface ocean. We don\u2019t have enough data yet to prove it.<\/p>\n<p>That is what Persephone is designed to provide. Unfortunately, with the unforgiving logic of orbital mechanics and current constraints on propulsion technology, any such mission would take multiple decades, even with a gravity assist from Jupiter. The mission design for Persephone has been operational for almost 31 years, including a 28-year cruise phase and a three-year orbit period around Pluto and Charon. It could then have an extended operational mission to visit other Kuiper belt objects to help constrain the variance in the different kinds of objects in that massive section of space.<\/p>\n<p>That travel time could be helped by the development of a more effective nuclear electric propulsion system, which could shave up to 2 years off it even with a heavier payload than currently planned for Persephone. Such a system has been described but might not be available for the planned 2031 launch date for Persephone on board an SLS rocket.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Long Will Our Spacecraft Survive?\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EW8W5Dze1IU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fraser discusses the longevity of spacecraft, which will definitely be a consideration for any future missions to Pluto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Persephone will take a suite of sensors, no matter its propulsion system, which can be \u201cbrought to bear on any and every object encountered during the mission,\u201d.  According to the flight plan, that would include Jupiter and its moons. These sensors include cameras, spectrometers, radar, magnetometers, and altimeters to meet the mission\u2019s necessary science objectives.<\/p>\n<p>A critical differentiator for the mission is that it is designed to be an orbiter rather than a flyby. According to the authors, much of the data needed to be collected would be infeasible with the short period a flyby would provide with the system. An orbiter would be able to stick around and collect data over the three-year period about both Pluto and Charon, including their active surface dynamics.<\/p>\n<p>This proposal is just one of many mission proposals to the outer planets seeking further funding, and a preliminary estimate of $3bn puts it in the higher range of those missions. But if it is funded in some capacity, it could provide answers to the questions that New Horizons posed, even if it would take several decades to reach them.<\/p>\n<p>Learn More:<br \/>Howett et al \u2013 Persephone: A Pluto-system Orbiter and Kuiper Belt Explorer<br \/>UT \u2013 The (Dwarf) Planet Pluto<br \/>UT \u2013 NASA\u2019s New Horizons Mission Still Threatened<br \/>UT \u2013 New Horizons is Funded Through the Decade. Enough to Explore Another Kuiper Belt Object<\/p>\n<p>Lead Image:<br \/>Graphic of Pluto being visited by Persephone and all the different questions the mission could answer.<br \/>Credit \u2013 Howett et al.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded\" id=\"like-post-wrapper-24000880-169314-67362a9eb9f51\" data-src=\"https:\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/?ver=13.2.3#blog_id=24000880&amp;post_id=169314&amp;origin=www.universetoday.com&amp;obj_id=24000880-169314-67362a9eb9f51&amp;n=1\" data-name=\"like-post-frame-24000880-169314-67362a9eb9f51\" data-title=\"Like or Reblog\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Like this:<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"button\"><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sd-text-color\"\/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/169314\/a-new-mission-to-pluto-could-answer-the-questions-raised-by-new-horizons\/?rand=772204\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pluto may have been downgraded from full-planet status, but that doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t hold a special place in scientist\u2019s hearts. There are practical and sentimental reasons for that \u2013&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":791168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-791167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genaero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=791167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/791168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=791167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=791167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=791167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}