14053( 12) - 13-Jun-2015 14:26:47 - [ 1] HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVING PROGRAM 14053 Version: 12 Check-in Time: 13-Jun-2015 14:26:47 STScI Edit Number: 8 Title Astrometric Follow-Up of Kuiper Belt Objects for the New Horizons Mission ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Type Cycle GO/DD 22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Investigators Contact? PI: Dr. John R. Spencer Southwest Research Institute Y CoI: Dr. Harold A. Weaver The Johns Hopkins University Applied Y Physics Laboratory CoI: Dr. Marc W. Buie Southwest Research Institute N CoI: Dr. S. Alan Stern Southwest Research Institute N CoI: Dr. Alex Parker Southwest Research Institute N CoI: Dr. Simon Porter Southwest Research Institute N CoI: Dr. Amanda M. Zangari Southwest Research Institute N CoI: Dr. Anne J. Verbiscer The University of Virginia N CoI: Dr. Susan D. Benecchi Planetary Science Institute N CoI: Dr. David Tholen University of Hawaii N ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Abstract We propose five orbits of HST time for time-critical 2015 astrometry of the two Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) targetable by the New Horizons (NH) spacecraft during an extended mission to be proposed to NASA. These KBOs were discovered in our 2014 HST search campaign (GO 13633). A close flyby by NH of a typical KBO beyond Pluto will revolutionize our understanding of this major component of the solar system, and was recommended as a key part of the Pluto mission by the 2002 Planetary Decadal Survey. In August 2015, the New Horizons project and NASA must choose one of these objects as the flyby target for a potential extended mission, and make a course correction in late 2015 towards the chosen target. The 2015 astrometry proposed here supports that decision point by substantially improving our knowledge of the orbits of the two flyby candidates, providing essential information for the choice between the two. It will also enables an accurate burn towards the chosen target, and will greatly improve our knowledge of the KBO's location at the time of the encounter. Because we need several well-spaced observations well in advance of the August decision date, these observations must be made during HST Cycle 22; they cannot wait until HST Cycle 23 decisions are made. The faintness of these objects (R > 26.5) has to date made them impossible to detect from the ground, and certainly precludes 2015 astrometry of the necessary precision from ground-based telescopes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Observations Description ------------------------ This program will make a total of three single-orbit visits, 2 visits to one of our two targets, and 1 visit to the other. This phase 2 describes the first two of these visits, one to each of our targets, to be made in May 2015. The final visit, to be made in summer 2015, will be submitted separately- the target chosen for that visit may depend on the results of the first two visits 14053( 12) - 13-Jun-2015 14:26:47 - [ 2] requested here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14053( 12) - 13-Jun-2015 14:26:47 - [ 3] TARGET LIST Solar System Targets ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET NUMBER: 1 TARGET NAME: 2014MU69 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET DESCRIPTION: ASTEROID PT1-111113Y ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET POSITION LEVEL 1 TARGET POSITION LEVEL 2 TYPE=ASTEROID, A=44.13910727552167, E=0.0449706694222827, I=2.450303934722035, O=159.0420382227352, W=192.1577572255627, M=294.2232035908972, EQUINOX=J2000, EPOCH=01-SEP-2014:00:00:00, EpochTimeScale=TDB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET POSITION LEVEL 3 WINDOWS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DATA COMMENTS V = 27.5 +/- 1 Using JPL #01 orbital elements. Ephemeris Center: EARTH ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET NUMBER: 2 TARGET NAME: 2014PN70 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET DESCRIPTION: ASTEROID PT3-G12000JZ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET POSITION LEVEL 1 TARGET POSITION LEVEL 2 TYPE=ASTEROID, A=44.04268912944715, E=0.05170378391162126, I=4.121313140884151, O=136.2592604227296, W=239.4547871029322, M=270.7518427973431, EQUINOX=J2000, EPOCH=14-SEP-2014:00:00, EpochTimeScale=TDB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TARGET POSITION LEVEL 3 WINDOWS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DATA COMMENTS V = 27 Using JPL #01 orbital elements. Ephemeris Center: EARTH ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14053( 12) - 13-Jun-2015 14:26:47 - [ 4] Patterns ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pattern_Number: 1 Primary_Pattern Secondary_Pattern Pattern_Type LINE Pattern_Purpose OTHER Number_Of_Points 5 Point_Spacing 0.75 Line_Spacing Coordinate_Frame CELESTIAL Pattern_Orient 0 Angle_Between_Sides Center_Pattern YES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pattern_Number: 2 Primary_Pattern Secondary_Pattern Pattern_Type LINE Pattern_Purpose OTHER Number_Of_Points 5 Point_Spacing 1.5 Line_Spacing Coordinate_Frame CELESTIAL Pattern_Orient 0 Angle_Between_Sides Center_Pattern NO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14053( 12) - 13-Jun-2015 14:26:47 - [ 5] Visit: 01 Visit Requirements: SCHED 100%; BETWEEN 04-MAY-2015:00:00:00 AND 05-MAY-2015:11:00:00; BETWEEN 06-MAY-2015:03 AND 06-MAY-2015:16 On Hold Comments: Additional Comments: Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Exp | Target | Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Central| Optional |Num| Time | Special Num | Name | Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Waveln.| Parameters |Exp| (Total) | Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 2014MU69 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 1 368.0 S SEQ 1 NON-INT; PATTERN 1 S (1840 S) 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sub Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target | Exp |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Cent.|Primary |Secondary |Iteration |CR-SPLIT |Orbit |Duration Name | Num |Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Wave.|Pattern Pos |Pattern Pos |Num |Num |Number | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 1 none none none 1 N/A S 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 2 none none none 1 N/A S 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 3 none none none 1 N/A S 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 4 none none none 1 N/A S 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 5 none none none 1 N/A S 14053( 12) - 13-Jun-2015 14:26:47 - [ 6] Visit: 02 Visit Requirements: SCHED 100%; BETWEEN 04-MAY-2015:00:00:00 AND 06-MAY-2015:16:00:00 On Hold Comments: Additional Comments: Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Exp | Target | Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Central| Optional |Num| Time | Special Num | Name | Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Waveln.| Parameters |Exp| (Total) | Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 2014PN70 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 1 368.0 S SEQ 1 NON-INT; PATTERN 1 S (1840 S) 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sub Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target | Exp |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Cent.|Primary |Secondary |Iteration |CR-SPLIT |Orbit |Duration Name | Num |Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Wave.|Pattern Pos |Pattern Pos |Num |Num |Number | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2014PN70 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 1 none none none 1 N/A S 2014PN70 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 2 none none none 1 N/A S 2014PN70 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 3 none none none 1 N/A S 2014PN70 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 4 none none none 1 N/A S 2014PN70 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 5 none none none 1 N/A S 14053( 12) - 13-Jun-2015 14:26:47 - [ 7] Visit: 03 Visit Requirements: SCHED 100%; ORIENT 127D TO 137 D; BETWEEN 04-JUL-2015:14:00:00 AND 04-JUL-2015:15:00:00 On Hold Comments: Additional Comments: Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Exp | Target | Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Central| Optional |Num| Time | Special Num | Name | Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Waveln.| Parameters |Exp| (Total) | Requirements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 2014MU69 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 1 368.0 S POS TARG 0, 5; GS ACQ S (1840 S) SCENARIO BASE1B3; SEQ 1 NON-INT; PATTERN 2 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sub Exposures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target | Exp |Instr | Oper. | Aper |Spectral|Cent.|Primary |Secondary |Iteration |CR-SPLIT |Orbit |Duration Name | Num |Config | Mode | or FOV |Element |Wave.|Pattern Pos |Pattern Pos |Num |Num |Number | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 1 none none none 1 N/A S 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 2 none none none 1 N/A S 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 3 none none none 1 N/A S 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 4 none none none 1 N/A S 2014MU69 1 WFC3/UVI ACCUM UVIS2 F350LP 5 none none none 1 N/A S 14053( 12) - 13-Jun-2015 14:26:47 - [ 8] Summary Form for Proposal 14053 Item Used in this proposal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Apertures UVIS2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Configurations WFC3/UVIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opmodes ACCUM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Optional Parameters ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special Requirements BETWEEN 04-JUL-2015:14:00:00 AND 04-JUL-2015:15:00:00, BETWEEN 04-MAY-2015:00:00:00 AND 05-MAY-2015:11:00:00, BETWEEN 04-MAY-2015:00:00:00 AND 06-MAY-2015:16:00:00, BETWEEN 06-MAY-2015:03 AND 06-MAY-2015:16, GS ACQ SCENARIO BASE1B3, ORIENT 127D TO 137 D, PATTERN 1 1, PATTERN 2 1, POS TARG 0, 5, SCHED 100%, SEQ 1 NON-INT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spectral Elements F350LP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Target Names 2014MU69, 2014PN70 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------