4
$\begingroup$

Five years ago What's after Pluto for New Horizons? was asked, and the answer turned out to be at first 'something in the Kuiper belt if we can find a good candidate' and finally 2014 MU69.

But now what?

The Voyagers have been faithfully reporting back for 40+ years but there's not very much for them to do these days, both because there's not much of anything where they are and because as their RTG power ramps down things need to be powered off permanently.

Is that now New Horizon's fate as well, or are there more KBO's flyby's possible, or something else for it to do at 40+ AU from the Sun?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
2
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I really hope the answer is "getting recovered by our first nuclear high-isp ship for materials analysis". $\endgroup$
    – ikrase
    Feb 8, 2020 at 2:50
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @ikrase or even for a quick refurbishing and redeployment $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Feb 8, 2020 at 2:58

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5
$\begingroup$

It is being set up for use in a parallax experiment to obtain a 3D impression of two nearby stars in relation to other background stars via stereoscopic combination of the spaceship's telescope with terrestrial telescopes.

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20200129.

Seems like the two stars are Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359 (Resistance is futile :-)).

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.