2023-10-03 17:45:36
NASA’s New Horizons space probe left Earth in 2006. In 2015, it became the first spacecraft to fly by the dwarf planet Pluto. As a tribute to the late Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, the spacecraft carries ashes of the deceased on board. In 2019, New Horizons flew by Arrokoth, also known as 2014MU69 and Ultima Thule. Since then, the spacecraft has continued to fly through the Kuiper belt, from which it will leave in 2028 or 2029. And there are already new research objectives.
When the spacecraft reached Arrokoth, about 6.4 billion kilometers from Earth, it made this celestial body the farthest from Earth visited by a spacecraft.
Arrokoth and Pluto are stars of the enigmatic Kuiper Belt, a region of primordial bodies that contain remains of the formation process of our solar system.
New Horizons will focus on making heliophysics observations from its unique position at the edge of the solar system.
Although the scientific community is not currently aware of any stars that New Horizons can reach in the Kuiper Belt, the route that the spacecraft will follow allows the possibility of preparing a future close flyby of an object within its reach, in case it is identified. some. The route will also allow the ship to save fuel and reduce the complexity of the journey while there is no candidate star to be visited.
Artist’s recreation of the New Horizons space probe at the edge of the solar system. (Illustration: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)
NASA has decided to extend the New Horizons mission until at least its departure from the Kuiper Belt. (Source: NCYT from Amazings)
#spacecraft #flew #Pluto #explore #future