Pluto Kuiper Express 390914 219908484 2008-06-17T12:15:12Z DumZiBoT 6085301 robot Adding: [[it:Pluto Kuiper Express]] [[Image:Pluto_express.jpg|thumb|right|Pluto Kuiper Express - artist's impression ]] The '''Pluto Kuiper Express''' mission was a space mission designed to fly by the [[Pluto]]-[[Charon (moon)|Charon]] system and at least one large object in the [[Kuiper belt]] beyond Pluto's orbit. Originally designated the '''Pluto Fast Flyby''', it was scheduled to reach Pluto by [[2012]]. The mission was cancelled for budgetary reasons, but later replaced by the similar ''[[New Horizons]]'' mission. The timing of the mission was important, as it would have passed Pluto shortly before the planet's [[celestial body atmosphere|atmosphere]] froze, which it does for a considerable period of the planet's orbit. The mission's main objectives would have been to map the planet's surface and examine the double system's geology and geomorphology, as well as determining the composition of Pluto's atmosphere. This last task would have been considerably more difficult after the start of atmospheric freezing. Scientific equipment on board would have included [[visible light]] imaging systems, [[infrared]] and [[ultraviolet]] [[spectrometer]]s, and an ultrastable oscillator (USO) for use in a radio occultation experiment. The spacecraft was to have been a simple hexagonal prism shaped structure weighing some 220kg, powered by [[radioisotope thermal generator]]s (RTGs) similar to those used on the [[Galileo probe|Galileo]] and [[Cassini probe|Cassini]] missions. On-board control and data collection would have been maintained by a 1.5 MIPS [[RISC]]-based computer system capable of processing data at 5 Mbit/s. This would have allowed for the transmission of over one gigabyte of data over a one year period. Communications would have been via a fixed 1.47 m [[high-gain antenna]], directionally corrected using a wide-field star tracker. Early in the mission's planning there was suggestion of combining efforts with the Russian space agency and including [[Zond]] probes to study the Plutonian atmosphere. This plan was later abandoned. The spacecraft was to have been launched via either a [[Delta rocket]] or the [[Space Shuttle]], most likely in December [[2004]]. The course would have been initially via [[Jupiter]], where the planet's gravity well would have been used to increase the probe's velocity via a [[gravity assist]]. The closest approach distance to Pluto would have been about 15,000 km at 17-18 km/s, so as to allow for 1 km resolution mapping. After passing Pluto, the spacecraft would have used its imaging camera to search for Kuiper Belt objects. ==External links== *http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ *http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=PLUTOKE {{Pluto}} [[Category:NASA probes]] [[Category:Pluto spacecraft]] [[Category:Cancelled spacecraft]] [[ca:Pluto Kuiper Express]] [[it:Pluto Kuiper Express]] [[pl:Pluto Kuiper Express]] [[sv:Pluto Kuiper Express]]