NEW HORIZONS SDC JUPITER ENCOUNTER: Raw Dust Counter Data V4.0

NASA's New Horizons Student Dust Counter instrument collected raw data during the Jupiter encounter mission phase. The dataset is Version 4.0, with updates to ancillary data and geometry from newer SPICE kernels. Data collection was sparse from December 2006 through April 2007, with very short or zero-duration collections continuing through June 2007.

Use Cases

• Analyzing instrument performance and background noise during sparse data collection periods mentioned in the description.
• Studying the interplanetary dust environment in the vicinity of Jupiter based on the mission phase.
• Calibrating or validating dust detection models using raw spacecraft instrument data.
• Investigating the effects of spacecraft configuration on science data collection, as described for the flyby period.

Strengths

• Data is from a NASA planetary science mission, indicating a high level of curation.
• Version 4.0 includes updated geometry from newer SPICE kernels and resolved review items from 2014 and 2016.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description notes that no science data was collected during the Jupiter flyby and data is sparse for the given time range.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the New Horizons Student Dust Counter instrument.

Time Range

December 2006 through June 2007

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:48:02.618544; freshness should be verified.