New Horizons PEPSSI: Pluto Encounter Proton and Ion Fluxes

NASA's New Horizons mission captured energetic particle data during its Pluto flyby. The Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI) instrument measured proton and ion fluxes, averaged at five-second, five-minute, and three-hour intervals. This version 1.0 dataset includes corresponding spacecraft attitude and ephemeris data.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind interaction with Pluto's atmosphere based on proton and ion flux measurements.
• Analyzing temporal variations in the space environment based on five-second to three-hour averaged data.
• Correlating particle fluxes with spacecraft position and orientation using the included attitude and ephemeris data.
• Studying the structure of Pluto's magnetosphere and bow shock based on energetic particle signatures.

Strengths

• Data originates from the NASA New Horizons mission, a primary source for Pluto encounter science.
• Contains multiple temporal resolutions (five-second, five-minute, three-hour) for analysis at different scales.
• Includes corresponding attitude and ephemeris data, providing essential context for the flux measurements.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale statistical modeling.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Measured by the Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation (PEPSSI) instrument aboard the New Horizons spacecraft.

Time Range

Pluto encounter mission phase.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 15:42:46.460937; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Space environment during the New Horizons spacecraft flyby of Pluto.