The Space Show Presents Dr. Alan Stern for a New Horizons and much more update!

The Space Show Presents Dr. Alan Stern, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026

Quick Summary

The Space Show featured Dr. Alan Stern discussing the New Horizons mission, its recent 11-month hibernation, and ongoing scientific activities in the outer solar system. Stern explained the mission’s budget constraints, which limit ground operations and data return, and the need for additional funding to keep heliospheric instruments running. He detailed the spacecraft’s current position, its study of the Kuiper Belt, and the search for a new flyby target using ground telescopes and the upcoming Roman Space Telescope. Stern shared new findings about Pluto, including evidence of liquid nitrogen flows, and highlighted the diversity of trans-Neptunian objects. The conversation also covered future propulsion technologies like nuclear thermal and fusion, their potential to revolutionize space travel, and the concept of a mission to intercept interstellar comets. Stern answered questions about spacecraft operations, instrument capabilities, and the challenges of deep space communication.

Detailed Summary

The Space Show welcomed listeners and introduced Dr. Alan Stern, the principal investigator of New Horizons, as the guest for the Friday Space Show. Alan explained that New Horizons hibernated for 11 months from August 2025 to June 2026, during which some subsystems were turned off while others, including three scientific instruments, recorded data continuously. He noted that hibernation was primarily due to budget constraints, as sufficient funding was not available to staff mission control year-round or operate all scientific instruments.

Our guest explained that New Horizons has three scientific instruments: a dust detector studying Kuiper Belt dust distribution, and two plasma spectrometers measuring the Sun’s outer heliosphere. The spacecraft can perform targeted flybys like the 2019 encounter with Arrokoth, with plans to search for another flyby target using ground-based telescopes and potentially the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Alan clarified that the mission’s operational lifespan is limited by the spacecraft’s nuclear power supply, which will lose power around 2050, rather than communication range issues, making it impossible to continue operations beyond that time.

Alan provided updates on New Horizons’ current position at 66 astronomical units from the sun and discussed the mission’s trajectory toward the galactic center direction, similar to the Voyagers but in the pla