# Estimating the thermally induced acceleration of the New Horizons spacecraft

## TL;DR

This paper models thermal effects on the New Horizons spacecraft to estimate residual accelerations and their impact on attitude, using Monte Carlo simulations based on methods from Pioneer and Cassini studies.

## Contribution

It applies a thermal modeling approach with Monte Carlo simulations to quantify residual accelerations of New Horizons, extending previous methods to new spacecraft.

## Key findings

- Residual acceleration of about 10^{-9} m/s^2 after Pluto encounter
- Thermal effects significantly influence spacecraft attitude
- Rotational effects are challenging but potentially detectable

## Abstract

Residual accelerations due to thermal effects are estimated through a model of the New Horizons spacecraft and a Monte Carlo simulation. We also discuss and estimate the thermal effects on the attitude of the spacecraft. The work is based on a method previously used for the Pioneer and Cassini probes, which solve the Pioneer anomaly problem. The results indicate that after the encounter with Pluto there is a residual acceleration of the order of $10^{-9}~\mathrm{m/s^2}$, and that rotational effects should be difficult, although not impossible, to detect.