Alan Stern2001
NASA approves the New Horizons mission to conduct the first close reconnaissance of Pluto, Charon and the Kuiper Belt.
United States · Science / Astronomy. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
NASA approves the New Horizons mission to conduct the first close reconnaissance of Pluto, Charon and the Kuiper Belt.
The New Horizons spacecraft arrives in Florida for final testing and launch preparations for its journey to Pluto.
New Horizons launches aboard an Atlas V rocket, beginning the first spacecraft journey to Pluto.
Mission controllers receive New Horizons' first post-launch radio signals, confirming the Pluto-bound spacecraft is healthy.
New Horizons uses Jupiter for a gravity assist that shortens its flight time to Pluto.
New Horizons enters its first long hibernation period during the cruise from Jupiter toward Pluto.
New Horizons begins another scheduled hibernation cycle while continuing its multi-year cruise toward Pluto.
New Horizons begins a further hibernation cycle as mission controllers conserve spacecraft resources during the Pluto cruise.
New Horizons passes the halfway point in travel time between its 2006 launch and the 2015 Pluto encounter.
New Horizons detects Pluto's large moon Charon from deep space as the spacecraft continues its approach to the Pluto system.
New Horizons begins its fourth major hibernation cycle before the final approach to Pluto.
Controllers wake New Horizons from hibernation for the final time before its active Pluto encounter.
New Horizons images Pluto's small moon Hydra during its long-range approach, extending spacecraft observations of the satellite system.
New Horizons begins its formal approach phase toward Pluto after nearly nine years of interplanetary flight.
A 93-second thruster burn adjusts New Horizons' trajectory for the forthcoming Pluto encounter.
New Horizons becomes closer to Pluto than Earth is to the Sun, marking a major approach milestone.
A final 23-second engine burn fine-tunes New Horizons' trajectory toward its Pluto flyby.
After a detailed hazard search, the mission team keeps New Horizons on its planned Pluto flyby trajectory.
New Horizons enters safe mode because of a spacecraft command-sequence timing problem days before the Pluto encounter.
New Horizons returns to normal science operations after recovery from the July 4 safe-mode event.
New Horizons completes humanity's first close flyby of Pluto and its system of moons.
The final stored data from the 2015 Pluto encounter finish downloading to Earth after more than fifteen months.
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