NASA project:

 Horizons On-Line System News

 Nov 10: 

    -- Jovian satellites 2010J1 and 2010J2 have been updated to new trajectory

        solution JUP286 from R. Jacobson (JPL).



 Nov 09:

    -- Phobos-Soil_1 and Phobos-Soil_2 TLE-based trajectories have been added,

        replacing "Phobos-Soil". These two objects were found to be on 

        trajectories similar to the Earth-orbiting parking trajectory of the 

        original spacecraft. It is thought the engine firing did not occur.



       Efforts are underway to recover the spacecraft and reattempt the 

        interplanetary injection phase if possible. However, battery power 

        may be depleted in the next few days (~Nov 11-15).



       To obtain Earth shadow entrance/exit (eclipse) information for the 

        objects from Horizons (as with Hubble & ISS), select an object as   

        the target, then the Moon as coordinate center ("@301"). Then 

        request "observer table" quantity #12, "satellite angular separation

        and visibility".



       A marker code of "/u" will be displayed when the object is in umbral

        eclipse. You would probably want to use a fine time-step of 1 minute

        or less when generating such information. 



 Nov 04: 

    -- Daytime object 2005 YU55 was successfully acquired by Goldstone radar.

        The orbit solution has been updated to #72, based on the delay-Doppler

        measurements, and can be retrieved here. Trajectory uncertainties are

        reduced ~75% with these initial measurements.



       A 2nd orbit radar-update (prior to optical visibility) is expected to be 

        available around Nov 7 00:00 UTC, reducing uncertainties further.



 Nov 03:

    -- We plan to have an orbit solution update for 2005 YU55 based on 

        Goldstone radar astrometry by about Nov 4, 20:35 UTC. This daylight

        object won't be visible until after it's Nov 8 0.85 lunar-distance

        approach.

    -- Spektr-R was updated from an official trajectory (not TLEs) provided

        by Russia's IKI.



 Horizons On-Line System News

 Nov 10: 

    -- Jovian satellites 2010J1 and 2010J2 have been updated to new trajectory

        solution JUP286 from R. Jacobson (JPL).



 Nov 09:

    -- Phobos-Soil_1 and Phobos-Soil_2 TLE-based trajectories have been added,

        replacing "Phobos-Soil". These two objects were found to be on 

        trajectories similar to the Earth-orbiting parking trajectory of the 

        original spacecraft. It is thought the engine firing did not occur.



       Efforts are underway to recover the spacecraft and reattempt the 

        interplanetary injection phase if possible. However, battery power 

        may be depleted in the next few days (~Nov 11-15).



       To obtain Earth shadow entrance/exit (eclipse) information for the 

        objects from Horizons (as with Hubble & ISS), select an object as   

        the target, then the Moon as coordinate center ("@301"). Then 

        request "observer table" quantity #12, "satellite angular separation

        and visibility".



       A marker code of "/u" will be displayed when the object is in umbral

        eclipse. You would probably want to use a fine time-step of 1 minute

        or less when generating such information. 



 Nov 04: 

    -- Daytime object 2005 YU55 was successfully acquired by Goldstone radar.

        The orbit solution has been updated to #72, based on the delay-Doppler

        measurements, and can be retrieved here. Trajectory uncertainties are

        reduced ~75% with these initial measurements.



       A 2nd orbit radar-update (prior to optical visibility) is expected to be 

        available around Nov 7 00:00 UTC, reducing uncertainties further.



 Nov 03:

    -- We plan to have an orbit solution update for 2005 YU55 based on 

        Goldstone radar astrometry by about Nov 4, 20:35 UTC. This daylight

        object won't be visible until after it's Nov 8 0.85 lunar-distance

        approach.

    -- Spektr-R was updated from an official trajectory (not TLEs) provided

        by Russia's IKI.

Oct 12, 2011:

    -- The Phobos-Soil trajectory was extended to Mars encounter.



 Oct 10, 2011:

    -- The Phobos-Soil spacecraft's planning trajectory for Nov 8 launch from

        Baikonur (Russia) is now available. The Russian Space Research

        Institute has expressed interest in astrometry and imaging of Earth 

        departure, especially engine burns to occur over South America.



 Oct 04, 2011:

    -- Spektr-R space telescope trajectory was added

    -- Hubble Space Telescope trajectory was updated

    -- GRAIL's second stage trajectory was updated



 Sep 14, 2011:

    -- GRAIL A & B trajectories been updated with post-launch data-fits.



 Sep 10, 2011:

    -- GRAIL launched at the second window of the day; the relevant trajectory

        prediction files are now in Horizons.



 Sep 08, 2011:

    -- Pre-launch trajectories for Moon-bound GRAIL-A, GRAIL-B and the second 

        stage (GRAIL-SS) are now up on Horizons for the Saturday Sep 10 launch

        window #1.



        If launch is delayed, the on-line trajectories will be updated as soon 

        as possible.

Sep 02, 2011:

    -- Saturnian satellite 2010J1 and 2010J2 trajectories have been updated

        to a new solution fit to data through Aug 2011 from M. Brozovic (JPL).

    -- Cassini reference trajectory has been updated.

    -- ARTEMIS trajectories are back and current as far as they go. 

        A prediction interval will be added in a week or so.

    -- Hope to have GRAIL prior to launch, but it is still pending.



 Aug 15, 2011:

    -- Pluto system ephemerides (planet center and 4 satellites) have been

        updated to solution PLU021 (M. Brozovic, JPL)



 Aug 09, 2011

    -- Telnet screen sizing on the new server has been fixed. Horizons now also

        dynamically recognizes window size changes. 



       For those accessing by script, the TERM= "no-resize-vt100" environment

        variable isn't used anymore. A subset of RFC 854 and 1073 standards 

        has been implemented. This means an initial control-byte negotiation

        occurs. This should be invisible to your script, if you are letting 

        telnet handle the connection.





Aug 01, 2011

    -- Welcome to the new server. The SunFire V250, in service since 2004, 

        fades to black.



       One still-unresolved issue affects telnet users, preventing automatic 

        initial screen sizing. 



        Until fixed, you may have to manually tell the system your screen 

        dimensions (if the 24 x 79 default isn't OK) by typing in the command: 



                           tty {rows} {columns} 



        ... at the main "Horizons>" prompt. For example, "tty 33 101" tells

        the system your window has 33 rows and 101 columns. 



 Jul 27, 2011

    -- Hardware upgrade means HORIZONS will be unavailable for a short time 

        early next week. When we come back, we should be >10x faster.



       Nominal planning is for downtime Monday Aug 1 within the span 

       16:00-20:00 UTC (~ 9 am to 1 pm west coast Pasadena time in the US). 

       Probably a sub-interval of that span, if no surprises.



       Addresses affected are "ssd.jpl.nasa.gov", "neo.jpl.nasa.gov", and 

       "iau-comm4.jpl.nasa.gov". All functions they provide will be temporarily

       unavailable.



 Jul 21, 2011

    -- Newly discovered Pluto satellite, provisionally designated

        S/2011 (134340) 1 and reported in CBAT 2769 is now available based 

        on orbit solution by M. Brozovic (JPL). Access on Horizons using 

        ID code "904".



 Jul 18, 2011

    -- The pre-launch Juno spacecraft trajectory has been updated for the 

        August 5 opening of the launch window.

    -- A post-capture trajectory for the Dawn spacecraft at Vesta is now 

        available.





 Jun 17, 2011

    -- Version 3.40:

        Output-stepping based on angular motion (instead of time) can now 

        handle cases with user-specified elevation angle limits (rise/set).

         

 May 28, 2011

    -- Jupiter satellite solution JUP282 (R. Jacobson, JPL) is now used for

        bodies 506-513,517-550, and 55060-55073. 



        Satellites 2010 J1 and 2010 J2, two recently discovered Jovian 

        irregulars, are now available with the temporary numbering of 

        55072= 2010J1 and 55073= 2010J2.



 May 25, 2011

    -- System was down for ~5 minute fan replacement



 Mar 18, 2011:

    -- Saturnian satellite trajectories for 610-611, 615-618, 633-635, 649, and

        653 were updated to use the new SAT342 solution from R. Jacobson (JPL),

        reflecting Cassini spacecraft tracking data through November 2009.

    -- The Horizons telnet interface was altered to support name searches for 

        small-bodies having an apostrophe in the name. E-mail requests can 

        enclose the look-up command in double-quotes:



        COMMAND= "O'Connell;"

    

 Feb 15, 2011:

    -- WISE STATUS: No further updates to the Earth-orbiting WISE trajectory 

        will be made on Horizons. The last communication pass will occur from 

        11:35 a.m. to noon (PST) on 17 Feb 2011. During this pass, the s/c 

        transmitter will be turned off, ending mission operations and 

        navigation support. TLEs may be obtained from USSTRATCOM or other 

        public sites to derive future spacecraft location data.

    -- Constellation boundaries have been updated to use two more digits of

        precision for sub 0.1-arcsecond specification. 



 Feb 10, 2011:

    -- The MESSENGER spacecraft trajectory was updated for the March 18

        Mercury orbit insertion.



 Jan 31, 2011:

    -- Both the NExT spacecraft (formerly Stardust Bus) and 9P/Tempel 1 comet

       trajectories have been updated for the 200 km Tempel 1 comet flyby on 

       2011-Feb-15 04:39:16 UTC.



       To obtain an ephemeris relative to the comet Tempel 1 navigation 

       solution (s11025p_s89g), set center as "@1000093".  Conversely, to 

       obtain an ephemeris of the comet relative to NExT s/c, set target 

       "1000093" and set center "@next".



       The above will access precomputed trajectories as released by the NExT

       navigation team.  If you aren't concerned with encounter details, you

       can request 9P/Tempel 1 from the comet database as usual for a 

       numerically integrated version and predicts over longer time-spans.



       The current best global solution is K053/25, with an epoch of 2003.

       This, or follow-ons to come, should be used for non-spacecraft purposes. 



       There is a solution #91 (epoch 2010) adequate for the 2011 NExT 

       encounter, but less good than K053/25 for times away from that epoch.

       Also, FYI, earlier solution K051/22 has an epoch of 2006, and was a 

       fit keyed to the 2005 Deep Impact ecnounter but is not as good for 

       times away from that event as K053/25 or #91.





Dec 17, 2010:

    -- The Planet-C (Akatsuki) trajectory was updated to reflect the failure 

        to achieve Venus orbit insertion Dec 7. No new trajectory updates

        are expected here, though they may resume in future years if there is

        further spacecraft activity.



 Dec 13, 2010:

    -- The Swift Earth-orbiting gamma-ray burst observatory has been added.

        Future trajectory updates will be at user request.



 Dec 06, 2010:       

    -- Most NEO orbits in Horizons were recomputed based on debiased optical

       astrometry as described Icarus 210 (2010) 158-181, "Treatment of star 

       catalog biases in asteroid astrometric observations", Chesley SR, 

       Baer J, Monet DB. 



       The refinement aims to compensate astrometric measurements for small 

       systematic errors (generally 10's of mas level) in background star 

       catalog positions. This usually amounts to position changes for the

       new solutions well within the noise-level of prior orbit solution 

       uncertainties.



 Oct 22, 2010:

    -- Uranian satellites 716-724 and planet center (799) have been updated to

        the latest satellite solution URA095 from M. Brozovic (JPL).

       Neptunian satellites 809-813 have also been updated to new solution

        NEP085 from M. Brozovic (JPL).



 Oct 16, 2010:

    -- Updated to latest Saturnian satellite solution SAT314 from R. Jacobson 

        (JPL). Objects affected are: 619-631, 636-652, 2004S7, 2004S12, 

        2004S13, 2004S17, 2006S1, 2006S3, 2007S2, 2007S3.



 Sep 09, 2010:

    -- Satellite solution JUP230 was extended to span 1600 to 2500 for objects 

        Io (501), Europa (502), Ganymede (503), Callisto (504), Amalthea (505) 

        and Jupiter planet center (599)



Aug 19, 2010:

    -- If you don't get a response from the e-mail batch system, it is likely 

        your e-mail program isn't set to send "plain-text" ASCII (7-bit). 

        A helpful guide to suitably configuring various mailers is here:



              http://stagecraft.theprices.net/nomime.html



       Modern e-mail sw increasingly assumes it is communicating with other

       systems like itself, so automatically encodes outgoing e-mail with font 

       codes, formatting symbols, and MIME attachments.  An elaborate front-end 

       is needed to interpret all this, which Horizons does not yet have. For 

       example, it may seem that your command file clearly says

   

           EMAIL_ADDR= 'you@your.computer.com'



       ... but your e-mail software, if not set appropriately, reworks it such 

       that it arrives here looking like



           EMAIL_ADDR =3D =E2=80=98you@your.computer.com=E2=80=99=20



       ... which Horizons can't interpret, hence can't send an error message

       back to, hence no response. The issue is being looked at, but for now

       the simplest fix is if users handle it on their end by setting their

       e-mail software to send ASCII 7-bit plain-text (no MIME).



 Aug 02, 2010:

    -- DAWN spacecraft trajectory has been updated. Chandra, Herschel, Planck, 

        and WISE are updated regularly (weekly or monthly), the others as 

        requested or necessary.

       

 Jul 12, 2010:

    -- Kepler spacecraft trajectory updated, including predicts to 2015.

       Uranian satellites Perdita, Mab, and Cupid were extended to 2050

        (same URA074 solution).



Jun 30, 2010:

    -- USAGE NOTE: to produce a close-approach table using the e-mail "batch" 

        interface, set MAKE_EPHEM= 'YES' and TABLE_TYPE= 'APPROACH'. 



              ftp://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/ssd/horizons_batch_example.long



        ... has been updated to indicate this.



 Jun 28, 2010:

    -- The Rosetta spacecraft trajectory was updated for the flyby of asteroid

        21 Lutetia on Saturday July 10 @ 15:44:45 UTC (event time), at a 

        distance from Lutetia center of ~3230 km with a speed of 15 km/s. 



 Jun 24, 2010:

    -- The final EPOXI trajectory release from JPL navigation prior to Earth 

        flyby is now in Horizons. The closest approach will be 2010-Jun-27 

        22:03:48 UTC, 36859 km over the mid South Atlantic Ocean, closer to 

        Antarctica than South America or Africa.



 Jun 12, 2010:

    -- The final Hayabusa trajectory prediction is now available for the Jun 13

        return to Earth (Australia). Lighting is not favorable, but observers 

        in the Maldives should have a good view just after sunset (and of the 

        spacecraft too).



 May 28, 2010:

    -- Spacecraft trajectories have been added for Planet-C (Venus Climate

        Orbiter, VCO), and the ARTEMIS-P1 and ARTEMIS-P2 spacecraft headed

        to Earth-Moon L1/L2.



 Mar 18, 2010:

    -- The Mercury rotation model was update to use the published version of

         Margot, J.L., (2009). "A new orientation model for Mercury,"

         Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, v.105, no.4, pp. 329-336.



 Feb 23, 2010:

    -- A trajectory for Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft is now

        available. Spacecraft ID is -85.





 Feb 03, 2010:

    -- The interplanetary planning trajectory for spacecraft Hayabusa's return 

        to Earth (June 2010) is now available. Entry/descent/landing trajectory

        is not available at this time.



 Jan 20, 2010:

    -- Pluto system (901-903,999) has been extended to cover 1900-2051

        with the same PLU017 solution.

       Jovian satellites and planet center (501-505,514,599) have been 

        extended to cover 1900-2100 with the same JUP230 solution.



 Jan 15, 2010:

    -- Mars system (401,402,499) ephemerides have been updated to new solution

        MAR085 (R. Jacobson, JPL) as described in Astronomical Journal (AJ), 

        139 (2010) 668-679.



 Jan 13, 2010:

    -- The Pluto ephemeris is currently PLU017 (indicated on output) -- since

        the 2007-Jun-20 announcement for Nix and Hydra satellite updates.



 Dec 17, 2009:

    -- Jupiter planet (599) and satellites 528-538 were updated to orbit 

        solution JUP269; satellites 539-549 were updated to JUP268, and 

        provisional objects 55060-55071 updated to JUP270. "Herse" (550),

        formerly known only as S/2003 J14, was newly numbered and named under 

        JUP270. All solutions are from R. Jacobson (JPL) who comments 

        "Merry Christmas" [ed.: indeed]; some provisional (5-digit) number 

        assignments were switched around, so it is best to access using the 

        object designation.



 Dec 16, 2009:

    -- The initial post-launch WISE spacecraft trajectory is now available 

        (Earth orbiting).



 Dec 14, 2009:

    -- The SOHO spacecraft trajectory (near L1) is now available, beginning 

        with 2008-Jun-1. Spacecraft ID is "-21". Select it as target using 

        that number or its unique name ("SOHO").



        SOHO can also be used as an observing site by picking a target

        (i.e., "Sun") and then a coordinate center of "@-21" (or "@SOHO").





 Nov 24, 2009:

    -- Unidentified object 9U01FF6 has been added to Horizons. It may be

        accessed under that designation or the unofficial SPK ID 9901885.

        The object is thought to be artificial and a piece of debris, based

        on trajectory response to solar radiation pressure.



 Nov 07, 2009:

    -- Version 3.35a

        Fixed a bug that caused no output when using calendrical output 

        stepping to step by month into a non-existent range of date labels 

        (i.e., the Gregorian calendar switch-over point in October 1582).



 Oct 28, 2009:

    -- Rosetta spacecraft trajectory update for Nov 13 Earth flyby.



 Oct 19, 2009:

    -- Kepler trajectory updated to reflect last several months of tracking

        data, with predicts to 2013.



 Oct 07, 2009:

    -- Final LCROSS pre-impact update for Horizons.

    -- Cassini reference trajectory updated.



 Sep 29, 2009:

    -- LCROSS spacecraft trajectory has been updated to model the impact 

        targeting maneuver TCM-8 planned for tomorrow, Sep 30, 2009 @15:00 UTC.

        Further trajectory update(s) are expected in the days ahead.



 Sep 28, 2009:

    -- MESSENGER trajectory update from APL for tomorrow's Mercury flyby and

        gravity-assist: 2009-Sep-29 21:56 UTC at 228 km altitude.



 Sep 25, 2009:

    -- Jupiter planet-center (599) and satellites 539-549, 55050-55053,

        55055-55061, and 55063-55064 have been updated to new solutions 

        JUP266 and JUP267 (JPL, R. Jacobson) and extended in time (1900-2099).





 Sep 09, 2009:

    -- Recent monthly and since-inception usage counts:

          Horizons usage summary 2009-Jul-15 to 2009-Aug-15

          Connections:                 Products:

            Telnet          13073         Telnet          32056

            WWW             49664         WWW             93226

            E-mail           4400         E-mail           8683

                                          SPK obj/fil       119/118

            ---------------------         ---------------------

            Total(month)    67137         Total(month)   134084

           >TOTAL(Oct96)  8453875        >TOTAL(Oct96) 13264926



 Sep 04, 2009:

    -- LCROSS, WISE, Chandra, MEX, VEX, Herschel & Planck spacecraft - updated.



 Sep 02, 2009:

    -- MEX and VEX spacecraft trajectories have been updated ... and should be 

        more routinely now, thanks to Jose Luis Vazquez-Garcia at ESA.



 Aug 17, 2009:

    -- Saturnian satellites 601-609, 612-614, 632-634, 649, 653, and 

        barycentric shift vector 699 for planet center have new solutions 

        SAT317XL, SAT321, and SAT323 (R. Jacobson, JPL) which also cover 

        an extended interval from 1600-2600 A.D.



 Aug 14, 2009: 

    -- The Ulysses spacecraft trajectory has been updated to reflect all 

        tracking data through the final pass 2009-Jun-29.  A predicted segment 

        extends thereafter to 2050. Thanks to Mark Ryne (JPL Navigation) 

        for putting this together. Way to go Ulysses!  What a trip.



 Aug 10, 2009:

    -- Trajectories for Chandra, HST, GALEX, and the ISS were updated today.



 Aug 04, 2009:

    -- Cassini (-82) reference trajectory has been updated through 2017.