P41E:
Exploring the Kuiper Belt: New Horizons Reaches the Pluto System I


Session ID#: 10371

Session Description:
Pluto-Charon is the first small planet of the Kuiper belt to be explored by spacecraft. New Horizons will fly through the Pluto-Charon system on 14 July 2015, carrying a suite of seven sophisticated instruments designed to investigate Pluto, its five known moons, and the surrounding space environment. This science payload includes high-resolution monochromatic and medium-resolution color imaging, an infrared imaging spectrometer, an ultraviolet imaging spectrograph, active and passive radio science, low-energy solar wind and medium-energy charged particle detectors, and a dust counter. Science team members will present results on the geology, geophysics, and composition of Pluto and Charon, Pluto’s atmosphere and its escape and interaction with the solar wind, the nature of Pluto’s small satellites, and the dust environment at Pluto. Contributions are also sought on Earth-based observations of the Pluto system during the New Horizons encounter, applicable models, and Pluto’s context in the Kuiper belt.
Primary Convener:  Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States
Conveners:  Fran Bagenal, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, Leslie Ann Young, Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States and Jeffrey M Moore, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States
Chairs:  Fran Bagenal, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States and S Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Leslie Ann Young, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States

Cross-Listed:
  • C - Cryosphere
  • SA - SPA-Aeronomy
  • SH - SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics
Index Terms:

5405 Atmospheres [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS]
5410 Composition [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS]
6270 Pluto and satellites [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS]
7899 General or miscellaneous [SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

A First Look at the Geology of Charon (Invited) (62114)
John R Spencer1, Jeffrey M Moore2, William B McKinnon3, Alan Stern4, Harold A Weaver Jr5, Leslie Ann Young6, Catherine Olkin6, Kimberly Ennico Smith2 and The New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Science Theme Team, (1)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, United States, (2)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (3)Washington University in St Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States, (4)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, United States, (6)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
Charon as Seen by New Horizons in the Infrared (69897)
Cristina Dalle Ore1, Dale P Cruikshank2, Alan Stern3, Leslie Ann Young4, Kimberly Ennico Smith2, William M Grundy5, Catherine Olkin4, Harold A Weaver Jr6 and New Horizons Surface Composition Science Theme Team, (1)SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, United States, (2)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (3)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (4)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, United States, (6)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, United States
Comparisons Between New Horizons Results and Long-Term Monitoring of Pluto (69761)
Marc W Buie1, Alan Stern2, Leslie Ann Young1, Harold A Weaver Jr3, Catherine Olkin1, Kimberly Ennico Smith4, Jeffrey M Moore5, William M Grundy6 and New Horizons Geology and Geophysics Investigation and Composition Teams, (1)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (2)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (3)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, United States, (4)NASA Ames, Moffet Field, CA, United States, (5)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (6)Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, United States
Processes Modifying Cratered Terrains on Pluto (70481)
Jeffrey M Moore1, Alan D Howard2, Oliver L White1, Orkan M Umurhan1, Paul Schenk3, Ross A Beyer1, William B McKinnon4, Kelsi N Singer5, John R Spencer5, Alan Stern6, Harold A Weaver Jr7, Leslie Ann Young5, Kimberly Ennico Smith1, Catherine Olkin5 and the New Horizons Geology and Geophysics Imaging Theme Team, (1)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (2)University of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville, VA, United States, (3)Lunar and Planetary Institute, USRA, Houston, United States, (4)Washington University in St Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States, (5)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (6)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (7)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, United States
Geomorphic Evolution of Sputnik Planum and Surrounding Terrain (71195)
Alan D Howard1, Jeffrey M Moore2, Oliver L White3, Orkan M Umurhan4, Paul Schenk5, Ross A Beyer2, William B McKinnon6, Kelsi N Singer7, John R Spencer7, Alan Stern8, Harold A Weaver Jr9, Leslie Ann Young7, Kimberly Ennico Smith2, Catherine Olkin7 and New Horizons Geology and Geophysics Imaging Team, (1)University of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville, VA, United States, (2)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (3)NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (4)SETI Institute Mountain View, Mountain View, CA, United States, (5)Lunar and Planetary Institute, USRA, Houston, United States, (6)Washington University in St Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States, (7)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (8)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (9)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, United States
Geomorphological Mapping of Sputnik Planum and Surrounding Terrain on Pluto (71069)
Oliver L White1, S Alan Stern2, Harold A Weaver Jr3, Catherine Olkin4, Kimberly Ennico Smith5, Leslie Ann Young4, Jeffrey M Moore6, Andrew F. Cheng7 and The New Horizons GGI Theme Team, (1)NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (2)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Dept Space Studies, Boulder, United States, (3)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, United States, (4)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)NASA Ames, Moffet Field, CA, United States, (6)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (7)JHU/APL, Laurel, United States
Craters on Pluto and Charon: The Influence of Low Gravities, Low Impact Speeds, and Unique Ices (70906)
Kelsi N Singer1, Paul Schenk2, William B McKinnon3, Stuart J Robbins4, Jeffrey M Moore5, Veronica J Bray6, John R Spencer4, S Alan Stern7, William M Grundy8, Ross A Beyer5, Carly Howett4, Cristina Dalle Ore9, Oliver L White10, Alex Harrison Parker11, Simon Porter4, Amanda Marie Zangari12, Leslie Ann Young4, Catherine Olkin4, Kimberly Ennico Smith5, Harold A Weaver Jr13 and The New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Science Theme Team, and The New Horizons Surface Composition Science Theme Team , (1)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (2)Lunar and Planetary Institute, USRA, Houston, United States, (3)Washington University in St Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States, (4)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (6)University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, (7)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Dept Space Studies, Boulder, United States, (8)Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, United States, (9)SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, United States, (10)NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (11)SETI Institute, Boulder, United States, (12)Unaffiliated, Lexington, MA, United States, (13)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, United States
Radii and Shape of Pluto and Charon: Preliminary Results from New Horizons (66444)
Francis Nimmo1, Carey Michael Lisse2, Orkan M Umurhan3, William B McKinnon4, Marc W Buie5, Tod Lauer6, Ross A Beyer7, Jeffrey M Moore7, Alan Stern8, Harold A Weaver Jr9, Catherine Olkin5, Kimberly Ennico Smith7, Leslie Ann Young5, Carver Jay Jay Bierson10 and The New Horizons Geology Geophysics and Imaging Team, (1)University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, United States, (2)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (3)SETI Institute Mountain View, Mountain View, CA, United States, (4)Washington University in St Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States, (5)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (6)National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ, United States, (7)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (8)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (9)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, United States, (10)University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, AZ, United States
New Insights into the Structure, Origin, and Evolution of Pluto and Charon (Invited) (60898)
William B McKinnon1, Alan Stern2, Harold A Weaver Jr3, John R Spencer4, Francis Nimmo5, Carey Michael Lisse6, Orkan M Umurhan7, Jeffrey M Moore8, Marc W Buie4, Simon Porter4, Catherine Olkin4, Leslie Ann Young4, Kimberly Ennico Smith9 and New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Theme Team, (1)Washington University in St Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States, (2)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States, (3)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, United States, (4)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, United States, (6)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (7)SETI Institute Mountain View, Mountain View, CA, United States, (8)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (9)NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA, United States

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