2019 has so far been extremely successful when it comes to the discovery of space – on the 1st of January 2019, NASA’s New Horizons probe flew by Ultima Thule – now, the furthest place humankind has visited in history, as this lump of rock and ice is four billion miles away from Earth. What a way to start 2019, is it not?
Naturally, everyone is so excited about this achievement, that it had to be celebrated! That is why the mission team behind it threw a New Year’s Party, which was undoubtedly the most nerdy way to start 2019 ever.
Ultima Thule (MU69) looks a little bit like a snowman – in fact, this type of object is called a “contact binary”, which is basically two spheres touching. Ultima Thule is not big – in fact it measures only about 31 kilometers in length. It’s located in Kuiper Belt, a region that is beyond the orbit of major planets, although it is worth mentioning that it is home to Pluto.
Alas, NASA predicts that it will take up to 20 months to properly gather the data that has been recorded by New Horizons, as the new discovered body is so far away from Earth. Still, it will be worth it. It is widely believed that discoveries made on MU69 will help to explain how planets were formed four and a half billion years ago, both in our solar system and beyond.
It is not the end for New Horizons – scientists are looking to visit a third object in Kuiper’s Belt. And well, the sooner it happens the better, as somewhere in 2030s its generator (loads of hot plutonium) will no longer be able to hold the right temperature for New Horizons’ sensitive electronics. Still, even after its unfortunate end, New Horizons’ visit to Ultima Thule will have been recorded in history as an amazing achievement for humankind.
Sources
https://www.space.com/42871-new-horizons-ultima-thule-flyby-success.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/01/nasa-completes-farthest-ever-flyby-ultima-thule-what-happens-next/
https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/612707/first-images-of-ultima-thule-reveal-true-shape-of-the-most-distant-object-weve/
https://www.space.com/42871-new-horizons-ultima-thule-flyby-success.html
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/probe-visit-ultima-thule/