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Acquiring and processing astrometric measurements of a spacecraft's target using on-board images, generically referred to as optical navigation, is an integral function of the orbit determination and navigation of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft. Since New Horizons' reconnaissance of the Pluto system in July 2015, many preparations have been completed to further enhance the optical navigation system and prepare for the reconnaissance of New Horizons' next target, Kuiper Belt Object (486958) 2014 MU69 (unofficially nicknamed Ultima Thule). Due to its low relative brightness compared to most planetary exploration targets, Ultima Thule presents several unique challenges to the optical navigation system. The optical navigation system design, imaging schedule, and technical algorithms that were developed and tailored to these challenges are explored in detail. Additionally, several operational readiness tests, simulation methods, and test results are presented and analyzed to assess the optical navigation system performance and implications to flight operations. Lastly, a first look at Ultima as viewed from the New Horizons LORRI imager is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On August 3, 2004, at 2:15 a.m. EST, the MESSENGER mission to Mercury began with liftoff of the Delta II 7925H launch vehicle and 1,107-kg spacecraft including seven instruments. MESSENGER is the seventh in the series of NASA Discovery missions, the third to be built and operated by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) following the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker and Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) missions. The MESSENGER team at JHU/APL is using efficient operations approaches developed in support of the low-cost NEAR and CONTOUR operations while incorporating improved approaches for reducing total mission risk. This paper provides an overview of the designs and operational practices implemented to conduct the MESSENGER mission safely and effectively. These practices include proven approaches used on past JHU/APL operations and new improvements implemented to reduce risk, including adherence to time-proven standards of conduct in the planning and implementation of the mission. This paper also discusses the unique challenges of operating in orbit around Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, and what specific measures are being taken to address those challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spacecraft have successfully landed on the Moon, Venus, and Mars, and have penetrated the atmosphere of Jupiter. On 2001 February 12, the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker spacecraft landed on the surface of the asteroid (433) Eros after a year of observations in orbit about the asteroid. NEAR Shoemaker was not designed to land on an asteroid, complicating the design of operations needed to accomplish this feat. However, the NEAR Shoemaker team wanted to attempt a landing after the year of orbital operations that consumed most of the remaining spacecraft fuel, operations funding, and planned Deep Space Network tracking. This would be a fitting end to the mission, and it would be possible to obtain images at much greater resolution during the descent than could be obtained from orbit. The operations were more successful than the NEAR Shoemaker team had hoped, obtaining 70 high-resolution images during the descent and two weeks of gamma-ray spectrometer data from the surface after the successful soft landing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]