Earlier this year, NASA’s New Horizons probe visited a very special space rock. It was a momentous occasion, especially since the rock turned out to be two distinct objects that drifted together over time, making it look like a sort of space snowman. At the time, the object was known as Ultima Thule, but it’s …
When NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft zoomed by the twin space rocks known collectively as Ultima Thule earlier this year, the images it sent back seemed to show a “space snowman” in all its glory. The photos showed two round lumps of rock attached by a thick “belt” in a shape known as a contact binary. …
NASA’s 2019 started off with a bang as its New Horizons probe zipped by the most distant object mankind has ever tried to visit, a strange space rock known as Ultima Thule. Scientists quickly discovered that Ultima Thule isn’t one object, but two, making it the first contact binary ever studied in such detail. Now, …
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft sped past the peculiar asteroid binary known as Ultima Thule on New Year’s Day, and it collected an incredible amount of data. In its first transmission to Earth after passing its target New Horizons told its handlers that it had filled its on-board data storage to the brim. Now, as NASA …
New Horizons gave NASA an amazing New Year’s gift when it sent back gorgeous images of the distant Solar System object Ultima Thule, which we now know is the very first contact binary every visited by man-made spacecraft. It’s been a fantastic few days for the New Horizons team, but the spacecraft is far from …
While most of us were popping the corks on bottles of champagne, NASA engineers were holding their breath as they watched the calendar flip to 2019 on the East Coast. That’s because the New Horizons spacecraft, which has now traveled some 4 billion miles through our Solar System, finally made its flyby of the most …
The past two days have been incredibly exciting for NASA and its New Horizons spacecraft. The probe made its much-anticipated flyby of the mysterious Solar System object called Ultima Thule early on January 1st, and NASA declared the mission a success after receiving word that the spacecraft gathered a wealth of science data. Now, as …
NASA kicked off the new year with a midnight flyby of the most distant Solar System object ever visited by a manmade spacecraft. New Horizons passed within a few thousand miles of the oblong space rock known as Ultima Thule just after the calendar page turned to 2019 on the East Coast, and it’s a …
NASA is celebrating the new year in the best way it knows how, and that just so happens to be with a live stream. Scientists and engineers will have to hold off on popping their champagne cork just a little longer than usual as they wait for the New Horizons space probe to make history, …
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has been speeding through space since early 2006 and it’s about to make what might be its most interesting flyby to date. After speeding past Jupiter and Pluto in the 12 years since its launch, the probe is about to have a very close encounter with a mysterious object in the …
