New Horizons SDC: Jupiter Encounter Dust Data V4.0

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft collected sparse dust particle measurements via the Student Dust Counter instrument from December 2006 through June 2007 during its Jupiter flyby mission phase. This is version 4.0 of the dataset, updated with revised ancillary data and geometry from newer SPICE kernels. No new observations were added in this version.

Use Cases

• Analyze interplanetary dust particle distribution based on the sparse measurements taken during the Jupiter encounter phase.
• Study instrument performance and data gaps based on the description of periods with zero or very short duration data collection.
• Validate spacecraft geometry and ancillary data processing based on the version 4.0 updates mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Data originates from a NASA planetary science mission, the New Horizons spacecraft.
• Dataset is version 4.0, indicating iterative review and updates to ancillary data and geometry.
• Specific mission phase (Jupiter encounter) and time range (December 2006 to June 2007) are documented.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The description notes very sparse data collection and periods with zero or very short duration measurements.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Student Dust Counter instrument on the New Horizons spacecraft.

Time Range

December 2006 through June 2007

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 19:26:52.831336; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Interplanetary space during the Jupiter flyby trajectory.