New Horizons – Ultima Thule Flyby! Making history in New Year 2019!
New Horizons (NASA’s spacecraft) historic $700 million mission to Pluto launched in January 2006 and arriving on July 14, 2015. It was the first ever flyby of a probe past Pluto and it did so from approximately 7,800 miles (12,550 km) away.
The Ultima Thule flyby is a continuation of this mission and will take New Horizons into new territory far beyond Pluto at the solar system’s edge, to an area of icy worlds in space, further out than the orbit of Neptune, (1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometres on) in a region known as the Kuiper Belt.
On New Year’s Day at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 GMT) hopefully, New Horizons will flyby Ultima Thule (2014 MU69) at under 2,200 miles (3,500 km) away. At this point it will be 4 billion miles+ (6.4 billion km+) away from Earth.
Ultima Thule is, in point of fact, an enigmatic solar system body that scientists know almost nothing about. It is about 23-mile-wide (37 km) and currently it may or may not be just a single body. Alternatively, it is possible that it is made up of two objects that are in fact in orbit around one another.
NASA has given us the opportunity to send a message to Ultima Thule. Six choices were offered and Icewolf has chosen “Go New Horizons, Go NASA!” And we even get a certificate! Cosmic way to start the New Year 2019!!
“Travelling at light speed, the signals carrying these messages will reach the spacecraft about six hours after being beamed from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (in Laurel, Maryland, which manages the New Horizons mission for NASA), largest dish antenna, on the very same day that New Horizons flies by Ultima Thule! How cool is that?” – New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Happy New Year to you too! One of my NY resolutions is to get back to blog visiting once and for all! So with a bit of luck I will see you on yours tomorrow – NY day 🙂
You have been extremely busy this year…but seeing your smiling comments and blog is always a treat for me! Happy New Year!
Hoping that this year I will be busy on here! Done a terrible job of being that over the past year 😉
Happy New Year, Icewolf!
Something tells me we are in for quite the explorational ride in 2019… looking forward to it!
I think you could be right! Happy New Year Tom!
Happy 2019 to you Wolfie hope it brings you Wealth Health and Happiness xxx
You too! Happy New Year!
Wolfie looks wonderful on Pluto!! Happiest & Healthiest New Year!
Yes…lol 😃 Wolfie’s looking quite magnificent!!😉🙃 Happy New Year to you!
Happy New Year, Wolfie
Wishing you all good things and tidings for the year ahead,
Eric
Hope it’s a great year for you in 2019 Eric! Happy New Year🙃🎉🎆
Big hugs and happiest days in all your favorite ways!
It’s a New Year!!!
love, Eddie
And to you too Eddie!😀Happy New Year!
Great Message to send all those miles out into space Wolfie..
And so glad you flew by my place also.. You have been missed my friend..
Sending you Mega Hugs for 2019 and I hope ALL your Far away Dreams come true my four legged fury friend.. 🙂
May your paw prints leave lasting imprints where every they tread…
May your fury coat shine with good health and vitality.. ( Bob-Martins ) good for that.. 🙂
And May your journey into the outer reach of the Universe continue to inspire all who orbit your Moon..
Love and Blessings and a Happy New Year to you Wolfie.. Hoooowwwwwllllssssssss… ❤
Fantastic Sue! Thank you! I got a giant size pack of Bob-Martins for Christmas 😂 so I should be all shiny and magnificent for the coming year! I will be shining like the icy homeworld of Europa in the night sky when I pad by to visit your blog! A full moon Europa no less!! 🌚🌛Love and blessings to you too 🤗 xx
Brilliant, glad Santa was good to you Wolfie… And you are fit and healthy.. 🙂 with wet nose and perky ears lol.. haha… Full Moons are set to shine red too I hear. 🙂
Ett fint år hoppas jag för dig Wolfie och jag hoppas också att du fortsätter att vara min vän.. Kram Nicki
Just dropping in again Wolfie to wish you a peaceful weekend.. Take care, ❤
I really must look at my notifications more often! Has it really taken a month to find them all?!! I guess I don’t expect any interest so I’m always surprised when I discover different😃xxx
🙂 ❤
Hey 2 visits in such a short time,
I bet you’re impressed my Icywolfy ❤
Catch you again soon my lovely
friend Hooooooooooooooooooowl 😉
Andro xxx
I’m super impressed!😂I bet you’re not remotely impressed with the time it’s taken for me to respond though!🤣