The seventh and final instrument aboard New Horizons has now been tested in space and found to return good data. The Pluto-bound spacecraft used its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) to take a picture of the Messier 7 cluster on August 29. Stars down to 12th magnitude are visible in the image, which means the instrument checks out with pre-launch calculations and is operating nominally.
“Our hope was that LORRI’s first image would prove not only that the cover had opened completely, but that LORRI was capable of providing the required high-resolution imaging of Pluto and Charon,” says Andy Cheng, LORRI principal investigator, from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which built and operates the spacecraft. “Our hopes were not only met, but exceeded.”
The mirror remained in focus even after its temperature dropped by more than 50 degrees C (120 degrees F) when its cover door opened. Next for LORRI are observations of Jupiter as New Horizons begins to focus on the gas giant on September 4. The spacecraft will pass within 1.4 million miles of the planet next February as it gains a gravity assist toward Pluto and Charon. Expect solid results from the Jupiter observations, but of course the best news is that all of New Horizons’ instruments are sound. Planet or not, Pluto is not many years from revealing at least some of its secrets.
