Tag: 2014 MU69
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New Horizons’ next target might be a binary pair
One artist’s concept of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, the next flyby target for NASA’s New Horizons mission. This binary concept is based on telescope observations made at Patagonia, Argentina, on July 17, 2017, when MU69 passed in front of a star. New Horizons theorize that it could be a single body with a large…
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New Horizons to continue mission of discovery with Kuiper Belt encounter
Artist’s impression of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft encountering a Kuiper Belt object. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/Alex Parker Scientists planning the the next phase of NASA’s New Horizons mission, a robotic craft that completed the first exploration of Pluto in 2015, are going into the flyby of a frozen, faraway city-sized clump of rock on New Year’s Day…
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Final Pluto data transmission received from flyby probe
Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft transmitting data back to Earth through its 83-inch (2.1-meter) antenna. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI The last bits of data collected during NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft’s speedy flyby of Pluto last year are back on Earth, scientists said Thursday, marking the official end of the probe’s prime mission. It took more…
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Pluto probe’s extended mission approved, but new Dawn destination denied
Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft’s encounter with a Kuiper Belt object. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/Alex Parker NASA managers formally approved the New Horizons mission another speedy encounter with an object at the frontier of the solar system, but denied a request from scientists to redirect the Dawn spacecraft to visit a third destination in the…
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New Horizons takes aim on next target
Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft’s encounter with a Kuiper Belt Object. Credit: NASA/SWRI/JHUAPL/Alex Parker In a triumph of deep space navigation and with Pluto shrinking in its wake, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has steered on a course to reach a tiny object named 2014 MU69 for a whirlwind visit on New Year’s Day…
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Distant ice ball to become farthest object ever visited
Artist’s concept of the New Horizons spacecraft flying by a Kuiper Belt Object. Credit: Alex Parker A frozen fragment left over from the formation of the solar system is set to become the most distant object ever explored by a human-built space probe, scientists working on the New Horizons mission said Friday. The selection is…