New Horizons' recent deep space navigation test marks a major step forward in stellar navigation. Using its location in the Kuiper Belt, the spacecraft successfully targeted Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359, employing parallax measurement to calculate its position with an accuracy of about 4.1 million miles. This demonstrates the viability of stellar navigation for future deep space missions.A paper describing the results was accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal. The pre-print is available on the server arXiv.
As a proof-of-concept test, the researchers took advantage of the spacecraft's unique vantage point as it traveled toward interstellar space to image two of our nearest stellar neighbors, Proxima Centauri, which is 4.2 light-years from Earth, and Wolf 359, which is 7.86 light-years away.
Solar System. There are a lot of instruments on board, including optical and infrared cameras, as well as spectrographs for them. 
New Horizons completed its main task — the exploration of Pluto and Charon — long ago. It also completed an additional program, and now it’s being used to study the heliosphere. Therefore, it is already far enough away to be used for testing stellar navigation.
For this purpose, the camera of the spacecraft photographed the position of only two stars in the sky: Proxima Centauri, which is 4.2 light-years away, and Wolf 359, which is 7.86 light-years away. The closer the stars are to us, the greater their parallax, or displacement in the sky, should be.
The success of this autonomous stellar navigation test illustrates promising implications for interstellar exploration. The ability to navigate using celestial bodies as reference points could revolutionize how spacecraft traverse vast distances . As humanity embarks on deeper space missions, such techniques will be essential for determining precise locations and ensuring successful trajectory planning. Thus, this pioneering achievement by New Horizons represents a pivotal step toward realizing long-term goals in interstellar travel .
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