1. NH 3rd Stage Trajectory Prediction
Yanping Guo
4/28/2008

2. Where IS NH 3rd Stage?
The NH 3rd stage trajectory is estimated assuming it had the same initial state (position and velocity) of the NH spacecraft after separation
Same initial state used for NH TCM-1 design
The estimated trajectory shows the 3rd stage would pass Jupiter from a distance of about 2.9 million km (Slide 4)
C/A time: 27 Feb :30:56 UTC
C/A distance: 2,905,881 km
The 3rd stage would pass by Pluto in Oct 2015 at a distance of about 1.4 AU (Slide 5)
C/A time: 20 Oct :44:30 UTC
C/A distance: 213,670,027 km
April 28, 2008

3. NH (red line) and 3rd Stage (green line) Trajectory
April 28, 2008

4. NH and 3rd Stage at Jupiter Flyby
April 28, 2008

5. NH and 3rd Stage at Pluto Encounter
April 28, 2008

6. NH (red line) and 3rd Stage (green line) Trajectory
NH Spacecraft (red line) and 3rd stage (green line) Trajectory
Date
Distance between NH and 3rd Stage
(km)
(AU)
1/19/2006
0.000E+00
0.000
1/19/2007
7.010E+05
0.005
1/19/2008
2.777E+07
0.186
1/19/2009
5.701E+07
0.381
1/19/2010
8.552E+07
0.572
1/19/2011
1.138E+08
0.761
1/19/2012
1.421E+08
0.950
1/19/2013
1.705E+08
1.140
1/19/2014
1.990E+08
1.330
1/19/2015
2.276E+08
1.522
April 28, 2008

7. NH Spacecraft and 3rd stage at Jupiter Flyby on Feb 28, 2007
3rd Stage Distance from
Jupiter: 2,940,000 km
April 28, 2008

8. NH and 3rd Stage at Pluto Encounter
3rd Stage Distance from
Pluto: AU
NH Spacecraft and 3rd stage at Pluto Encounter on July 14, 2015
April 28, 2008