Keith’s note: New Horizons plans to shut down both key heliophysics instruments for a lack of $2 million per year starting in FY 2027. A petition has been established to bring this to wider attention and add back this funding.
New Horizons is fully operational as it reaches the outskirts of our solar system and is headed to enter interstellar space. America is the only nation to have spacecraft traversing interstellar space – the 1970s’ Voyager twins. But they are barely operating. But New Horizons is headed join them.
New Horizons is a 21st century spacecraft with more modern scientific instruments that can better our solar neighborhood in a way that no other mission, Voyager included, will be able to do for many years to come. NASA talks about maintaining leadership in space well this is one way to do so – to literally go where no one has ever gone before.
