It’s a strange little world.
At 4 billion miles from Earth, MU69 (also nicknamed Ultima Thule) is the farthest-away object a human spacecraft has ever visited. For the past few years, scientists have labeled MU69 as an unknown, mysterious “puzzle.” A…
Category: Mu69
New Horizons beams back most detailed view yet of super-distant world, MU69
The legendary New Horizons spacecraft has sent back the most detailed image yet of MU69 — the most distant object a human spacecraft has ever explored.
At some four billion miles from Earth, and one billion miles past Pluto, MU69 (which also goes by “Ultima Thule”) has been an object of mystery since its discovery in 2014. But New Horizons finally swooped by the distant object just after the 2019 New Year, uncovering a frozen, snowman-shaped world, composed of two roundish “lobes” that have been stuck together.
“This new image is starting to reveal differences in the geologic character of the two lobes of Ultima Thule, and is presenting us with new mysteries as well,” said Alan Stern, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission, in a statement. The mission is is jointly managed by NASA, the Southwest Research Institute, and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Read more…
More about Space, Nasa, Science, New Horizons, and Mu69
View More New Horizons beams back most detailed view yet of super-distant world, MU69New Horizons unveils a new world. Actually, it’s 2 worlds smashed together.
/https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fcard%2Fimage%2F911123%2Ffb7f0c24-6361-4acd-8b66-213f2c74a91e.png)
It’s a new, weird world.
The deep space exploration craft New Horizons has sent back the first detailed images of an ancient world floating more than 4 billion miles from Earth, formally known as 2014 MU69. The clearest glimpse yet of MU69 shows that it’s shaped like a snowman, with two roundish lobes that have been fused together.
It is by far the most distant world a spacecraft — and by extension humanity — has ever explored.
“What this spacecraft and this team accomplished is unprecedented,” Alan Stern, the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission, said from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory on Wednesday. Read more…
More about Space, Nasa, Science, New Horizons, and Mu69
View More New Horizons unveils a new world. Actually, it’s 2 worlds smashed together.