Astrogator swings past Jupiter
If you hadn’t heard, the entire trajectory to Pluto (New Horizons) was planned and is being flown by Astrogator. They just passed Jupiter (gravity assist) and are on their way to Pluto. They took a ton on of images as they passed.
Good job everyone!
Also remember, it’s the fastest thing ever built by man! only nine hours from the Earth to the Moon when it launched!
After they plan a maneuver they check it with JPL trajectory software and things are going perfectly!
Here’s the home page with a screen snap from STK:
Some links from the New Horizons home page:
Pluto-Bound New Horizons Spacecraft Gets a Boost from Jupiter
Fyi, they also do the maneuver planning for Messenger with Astrogator. JPL’s CATO is used for the multiple gravity assist trajectory design, and the high-fidelity maneuver planning and gravity assists are planned with Astrogator. See Messenger
There are lot’s of STK animations there, too!
John
