bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Tribune News Service

Nasa has released photos of its fly-by of Ultima Thule, the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft, revealing its ancient origin as two round objects squashed together.
The pictures reveal the icy planetary body to resemble a red snowman.

Meet #UltimaThule! What you’re seeing is the 1st contact binary ever explored by a spacecraft. This object, which we can now see is a contact binary, used to be 2 separate objects that are now bound together. Watch for more @NASANewHorizons science results https://t.co/ZuxLDtzW9c pic.twitter.com/uF9VfgN4Fh
— NASA (@NASA) January 2, 2019

“Meet #UltimaThule! What you’re seeing is the 1st contact binary ever explored by a spacecraft,” tweeted Nasa.
“This object, which we can now see is a contact binary, used to be 2 separate objects that are now bound together.”
Nasa spacecraft makes history, flies past Ultima Thule 6.4 billion km from Earth
Nasa confirmed Tuesday that the spacecraft – New Horizons – completed its flight past Ultima Thule at 12.33am on January 1, Eastern Time. It is 6.4 billion km (4 billion miles) from Earth.
The new imagery shows the pockmarked space rock measures about 33km (20 miles) in length, seen from distances ranging between 137,000km and 28,000km (85,000 miles and 17,400 miles). Many more photos are expected to be released soon. The spacecraft came within about 3,520km (2,200 miles) of Ultima Thule.

“This is what leadership in space exploration is all about,” said Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine in a post to Twitter. He also said that New Horizons was the first spacecraft to directly explore an object “that holds remnants from the birth of our solar system.”
Ultima Thule sits in the Kuiper Belt, about 1.6 billion km past Pluto.

Team members and guest at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, gathered to celebrate both the new year and the fly-by of New Horizons, which launched in 2006.
Nasa said that the goal of the New Horizons mission was to explore Pluto and Kuiper Belt to study “the origins and outskirts of our solar system”. The spacecraft had already included the first reconnaissance of Pluto, completing its closest approach to the planet in 2015.


US Artemis II’s moon trip faces challenging toilet mission again over flushing

‘Space plumber’ to the rescue as Artemis astronauts navigate life aboard Orion

Artemis II’s moon-bound astronauts share first images of Earth’s brilliant blue beauty

Space watches, redefined for a new era of exploration, from Omega and more

Space

Photos reveal ancient origins of distant space rock Ultima Thule, resembling a frosty red snowman

This combination of photos by Nasa show Ultima Thule, taken at a distance of 137,000km on January 1, with the image on the right highlighting its reddish surface. Photo: AFP

This handout image released January 2, 2019 by NASA taken by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) is the most detailed of Ultima Thule returned so far by the New Horizons spacecraft. It was taken at 5:01 Universal Time on January 1, 2019, just 30 minutes before closest approach from a range of 18,000 miles (28,000 kilometers), with an original scale of 730 feet (140 meters) per pixel. - NASA rang in the New Year on Tuesday, January 1, 2019 with a historic flyby of the farthest, and quite possibly the oldest, cosmic body ever explored by humankind -- a tiny, distant world called Ultima Thule -- in the hopes of learning more about how planets took shape. (Photo by HO / NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute / AFP) / == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO / NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute" / NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVI

This image from video made available by NASA on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019 shows a diagram describing the size and shape of the object Ultima Thule, about 1 billion miles beyond Pluto. The New Horizons spacecraft encountered it on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019. (NASA via AP)

Event Horizon: Nasa spacecraft makes history, flies past Ultima Thule 6.4 billion km from Earth

An artist's impression of Nasa’s New Horizons spacecraft encountering Ultima Thule. Photo: AFP

Brian May, lead guitarist of the rock band Queen and astrophysicist, discusses the upcoming New Horizon's flyby of the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, U.S. December 31, 2018. NASA/Bill Ingalls/Handout via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT

FILE PHOTO: An artist's impression of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, currently en route to Pluto, is shown in this handout image provided by NASA/JHUAPL. REUTERS/NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Handout (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS/File Photo

epa07251918 A handout photo made available by NASA shows an artist's impression of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft encountering 2014 MU69, nicknamed Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object that orbits the Sun 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto (issued 28 December 2018). NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will pass the Solar System's most distant space rock in a flyby on New Year 01 January 2019. EPA-EFE/NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

FILE - This composite image made available by NASA shows the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed "Ultima Thule," indicated by the crosshairs at center, with stars surrounding it on Aug. 16, 2018, made by the New Horizons spacecraft. The brightness of the stars was subtracted from the final image using a separate photo from September 2017, before the object itself could be detected. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute via AP)

News

World

United States & Canada

The object 6.4 billion kilometres away has been identified as a ‘contact binary’, two objects that have squashed together into one
Many more photographs taken by the New Horizons spacecraft are expected soon


The object 6.4 billion kilometres away has been identified as a ‘contact binary’, two objects that have squashed together into one. Many more photographs taken by the New Horizons spacecraft are expected soon.


Photos reveal ancient origins of distant space rock Ultima Thule, resembling a frosty red snowman

.css-jfmysa{display:inline;word-break:break-word;}.css-1ankfgb{cursor:pointer;display:inline;word-break:break-word;}Nasa spacecraft makes history, flies past Ultima Thule 6.4 billion km from Earth

Nasa spacecraft makes history, flies past Ultima Thule 6.4 billion km from Earth