NSSDCA ID: 2006-001A-06
Mission Name: New Horizons Pluto Kuiper Belt FlybyThe Radio Experiment (REX) will use the New Horizons telecommunications system with its 2.1 meter antenna to perform radio science and radiometry measurements at Pluto, Charon, and any Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) encountered during the mission. During its occultation as it flies behind Pluto as seen from Earth it will make soundings of Pluto's ionospheric density and the atmospheric temperature and pressure down to the surface. It will use a radiometry mode to look for weak radio emissions from Pluto to derive globally averaged values for the dayside and nightside temperatures. It will also search for atmospheres and weak radio emissions at Charon and KBOs. REX will further be used to estimate the masses of Pluto, Charon, and KBOs by tracking small perturbations in the trajectory due to the gravity of the bodies. Improved estimates of the radii of Pluto and Charon will be made by timing the lengths of the radio occultations. REX is consists of a printed circuit board containing signal-processing electronics which is integrated into the telecommunications system. The telecom system is redundant, so the spacecraft has two copies of REX, one in each system. The REX system operates at 4.1 cm and has an effective field of view and angular resolution of 20 milliradians. The signal/noise power spectral density is 55 db-Hz. An ultrastable oscillator gives stability of 1E-13 in 1 second samples. Disk averaged radiometry will give an accuracy of 0.1 K.
Mass: 0.1 kg
Power (avg): 2.1 W
Questions and comments about this experiment can be directed to: Dr. David R. Williams
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Prof. G. Leonard Tyler | Principal Investigator | Stanford University | len@nova.stanford.edu |