NASA Is Planning For It's Next Pluto Orbiter Mission!
After performing so many insane space missions, including humans, NASA is now planning for its next Pluto Orbiter Mission! Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) has gotten funding from NASA to check the feasibility of this mission, the total possible budget, and the challenges of this mission. NASA always tries to perform such challenging and amazing space missions again and again, as it ranks first among all space agencies, and NASA scientists don't have to face budget issues and long delays. We have already published about some of the upcoming Insane Space missions of NASA, and this is one of the most challenging and important missions of NASA. In 2015, NASA's spacecraft New Horizons became the first spacecraft to study the Pluto planet. Today you will learn about NASA's upcoming space mission to Pluto.
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New Horizons Mission to Pluto
NASA's New Horizons mission became the first to study this Pluton planet. In July 2015, this mission passed close to Pluto, during which time it studied this dwarf planet closely. During this study, scientists came to know many important pieces of information related to dwarf planet Pluto, which changed the way scientists look at this dwarf planet forever. Then scientists believed that Pluto was an inactive ice giant, and there was nothing special for scientists to know. But from the information collected by New Horizons, we came to know that Pluto is more active than we thought.
There are active ice volcanoes and huge mountains made of nitrogen ice, and Pluto also has a nitrogen-rich atmosphere, due to which strong winds blow here. Also, scientists believe that there may be oceans of liquid water present under the thick layer of ice where some kind of life is evolving. But during the New Horizons Mission, we got only a few days to study Pluto, and because of the flyby, we were able to study only 40 percent of Pluto, and that too through very old scientific instruments. Because of this, the American space agency NASA is working on a special Pluto Orbital Mission to learn more about Pluto and study it for a long time.
Which will stay in the orbit of Pluto for a long time and study its atmosphere, surface, water present under its ice layers, and its moons. Dwarf Planet Pluto is the largest object present in the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is mainly a solar disk of icy bodies present beyond the planet Neptune, where millions of icy comets and dwarf planets like Pluto, Haumea, Eris, and Makemake are present. NASA has not yet launched a specific mission for Pluto. All the information we have received so far about Pluto was obtained from an interplanetary mission named New Horizons.
Which later completed the flyby of another Kuiper Belt object, Ultima Thule, on January 1, 2019. From the New Horizons mission, we got a lot of information about Pluto, which was completely new for scientists around the world. And this mission made the seemingly ordinary dwarf planet very special and interesting for scientists. Firstly, scientists believed that Pluto is an icy dwarf planet that has been inactive for millions of years and is lying like this. There would have been no movement of any kind for centuries. And for this reason, initially, scientists did not show any special interest in this dwarf planet. But from the recent studies done on Pluto and the information gathered by the New Horizons mission, we have come to know that Pluto is a very active solar body.
“There is a nitrogen-rich atmosphere here, which is much like our Earth. During the day, the ice frozen on the surface turns into steam and starts flying, which travels from one end of this dwarf planet to the other through strong winds. But during the night, the temperature here becomes very low, due to which they freeze back in the form of nitrogen ice. This process has been going on here for millions of years. Scientists have also discovered active ice volcanoes on the surface, which indicates that Pluto's core may still be quite active. Scientists have also discovered several kilometers of large mountains frozen on the surface with organic molecules and nitrogen ice. Do you know about NASA's upcoming ARTEMIS mission on our moon?
When scientists studied the surface of Pluto, they came to know that this dwarf planet must have been quite active geographically only a few million years ago. Also, according to scientists, there is a strong possibility that oceans of sub-surface liquid water may exist beneath the ice layer, which is several kilometers long.
But when the New Horizons mission passed near Pluto, scientists had only a few days of time and limited scientific instruments to study this dwarf planet. During which scientists could gather very little information about this dwarf planet. When the New Horizons mission carried out a flyby of Pluto, it was able to study only one side of it. That means our information about this dwarf planet, Pluto, is very limited. This mission could map and study only 40 percent of Pluto's surface.
Also Read: Voyager Space Missions of NASA Explained!
Also, the scientific instruments present in New Horizons were very old and less advanced, which failed to collect data according to today's needs of scientists and study Pluto's surface properly. If we want to thoroughly study Pluto's surface, its active core, and the subsurface ocean present there, then we will have to go there with more modern science instruments.
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Pluto Orbiter Space Mission
NASA has been planning to perform this type of space mission for a long time, and now NASA scientists have started working on it. To work on the prototype of this mission, NASA has joined hands with SWRI, i.e., the South West Research Institute. This Research Institute has also previously worked on the prototype of the New Horizons Mission. Because of this, they know very well what kind of spacecraft, scientific instruments, propulsion system, and communication system are required to carry out such a mission. This mission to be sent to Pluto has not been given a specific name yet, and it is currently being operated under the name of the Pluto Orbiter Mission.
This orbiter will be a spacecraft of the New Horizons class, which will have modern science instruments to study Pluto, its nitrogen-rich atmosphere, its nitrogen-ice-filled surface and mountains, its active core, subsurface water, and its four moons. I will study closely. It will also have a very modern transmission system, which will be 10 times more powerful than the transmission system of New Horizons. This spacecraft will send the information collected by this orbiter to Earth easily and quickly.
To reach Pluto as soon as possible, a modern chemical propulsion system will be used in this spacecraft, which was earlier used in the Dawn Mission sent to Dwarf Planet Ceres, which will take this spacecraft to Pluto in a short time. If everything goes well and as per plan, then this mission can be launched by 2030. After which, it will travel for 2 years and reach the orbit of Jupiter, the gas giant of our solar system. After which, it will increase its speed by using the gravity of planet Jupiter through gravity assistance and will start its long journey of 7 to 8 years to Pluto. It is expected that this spacecraft will reach this dwarf planet by 2040.
After which, it will enter Pluto's orbit using the gravity of its largest moon, Charon. It will stay in the orbit of the planet Pluto for about 2 to 3 years and study it and its four moons. During its mission, it will repeatedly pass through the orbit of Pluto and Charon, the largest moon of Pluto.
During which it will closely study their surface, atmosphere, subsurface water, magnetic field, and ice poles. After a few years, when it has completed all its scientific objectives, it will start its second stage mission. Its second mission will be to study the Kuiper Belt and the other celestial bodies present in it. The New Horizons Mission, which is currently present in the Kuiper Belt, has given us information that the Kuiper Belt is still very active and that there is a lot for humans to discover and study. In such a situation, scientists want the Pluto Orbital Mission to also study the Kuiper Belt in its second phase. So that two scientific missions can be completed through a single mission.
Summary and FAQ
The expected launch date of this insane mission is in 2030. It is also possible that other space agencies like ESA, JAXA, and ISRO will also contribute to this mission, as scientists will get more information about Pluto and its moons. Pluto actually has five moons of which Charon is the biggest. We have given complete information about the New Horizons Mission and the Pluto Orbiter Mission. I hope you have learned a lot from this article. Here are some questions that could arise in your mind:
1. When was the Pluto mission launched?
NASA launched the Pluto mission named New Horizons on January 19, 2006.
2. Who first landed on Pluto?
NASA landed New Horizons Craft on Pluto on July 2015.
3. Is Pluto bigger than the Moon?
No, our moon is bigger than the Pluto dwarf planet.
4. Is there any oxygen on Pluto?
Scientists have not yet found molecules of nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide on Pluto.
5. Who is named Pluto?
Venetia Burney Phair
