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Pluto Fast Flyby development model 2/1/94
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Caltech student Rich Zitola works on a full-scale model of Pluto Fast Flyby, a spacecraft mission under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Launched in 2000 or 2001, the spacecraft would pass within about 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) of the solar system's most distant known planet between the years 2007 and 2010. The development team has a goal of creating a spacecraft that weighs only 120 kilograms (265 pounds) when fully loaded with propellant, much lighter than other recent planetary spacecraft. The model depicted here is based on a 1992 configuration that has since undergone revisions. Student involvement is a major feature of the Pluto Fast Flyby development approach. |
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
PHOTO CAPTION P-40883C 1992
Pluto Fast Flyby encounter rendering 2/1/94
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This computer graphics frame simulates the Pluto Fast Flyby spacecraft's encounter of the solar system's most distant planet. Pluto is the lower body, whereas its moon, Charon, is the closer body at top. Attached to the spacecraft's hexagonal composite structure are spherical propulsion tanks and, at bottom, a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to provide power at the great distance from the sun. At the very end of the RTG assembly is a set of attitude-control thrusters. The dish at upper right is the spacecraft's high-gain antenna used for contact with Earth. Science instruments are located inside the spacecraft bus; on the lefthand side of the bus are louvers used to vent heat and maintain the bus's internal temperature. This rendering shows the spacecraft's 1993 configuration. Under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a launch in 2000 or 2001, the spacecraft would pass within about 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) of Pluto and Charon between the years 2007 and 2010. |
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
PHOTO CAPTION P-43417 1994
Pluto Fast Flyby size comparison 2/1/94
