您现在的位置是:k 5 d 2 o y s k o 9 v x 1 1 o 8 w 2 e r 8 d l j m 2 > Exploration
【cheech and chong love machine strain】Ultima Thule Is a Distant, Icy Little Object, Just Like Your Father
k 5 d 2 o y s k o 9 v x 1 1 o 8 w 2 e r 8 d l j m 22024-09-29 12:30:00【Exploration】4人已围观
简介Photo credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Steve GribbenFrom EsquireAs the rest of us rang in 2019, NASA was mak cheech and chong love machine strain
Photo credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Steve Gribben
From Esquire
As the rest of us rang in 2019,cheech and chong love machine strain NASA was making history. On January 1, the agency's
New Horizons spacecraft
flew past a rocky object in the Kuiper asteroid belt, a billion miles beyond Pluto, collecting data and sending it back to the Earth. It was the furthest world humankind has ever explored in space.
That small, icy, and distant rock New Horizons photographed is known as, not your father, but Ultima Thule (pronounced "TOO-lee"). The complete data set collected by New Horizons during the flyby will take 20 months to beam back to NASA scientists, but the initial trickle began with some very blurry photos received Tuesday. (The above illustration is an artistic impression.)
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
NASA originally described Ultima Thule's shape as "similar to a bowling pin" that is "spinning like a propeller," but also said it could potentially be two objects in tight orbit with one another. A second batch of photos released Wednesday was more clear, prompting mission scientists to narrow their description from "bowling pin" to "snowman,"
AP
reports. The object is a dull red color, and looks friendly enough.
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
Better images will continue to come in over the following days and months. Unlike the
Japanese rovers
that performed a wild landing on a moving asteroid last fall, New Horizons is keeping its distance from Ultima Thule to thousands of miles, where it can capture details the size of a basketball court, according to
mission scientists
.
While you'd think something named "Ultima Thule" would be a challenger to Thanos for galactic superiority in
Avengers 4: Endgame
, or doing drag, the name fittingly means "beyond the borders of the known world." And we're getting to know those borders. With this new data, NASA hopes to learn more about the formation of dwarf planets like Pluto as well as the start of the universe; Ultima Thule might not have changed much since the Big Bang days, giving us vital clues as to how our solar system formed.
New Horizons, which left Earth 13 years ago and performed an exploratory flyby of Pluto in 2015, will continue probing the Kuiper Belt for more data until at least 2021, when current funding for the mission runs out. Right now, it is over 4 billion miles away from the sun. Despite its long journey, the spacecraft is still chugging along and could potentially break through the belt to join NASA's Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft outside our solar system-if the mission is renewed,
Space
reports.
At a press conference Tuesday, the New Horizons mission's principal investigator S. Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute said, "I don’t know about you, but I’m really liking this 2019 thing so far." So that's one person optimistic about the new year.
This story has been updated to reflect new developments from NASA.
('You Might Also Like',)
HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT SUNGLASSES FOR YOUR FACE SHAPE
If You Don’t Have a Denim Shirt Yet, What’s Stopping You?
Why You'll Never Understand Mezcal Like You Understand Scotch
View comments
很赞哦!(1882)
相关文章
- Guggenheim Energy & Income Fund Announces Tender Offer
- Analyzing Brooks Automation's Ex-Dividend Date
- Warren Buffett: Know When to Cut Your Losses
- Biden Holds onto a Winning Margin in the Polls after the 1st Debate
- 5 Stocks With Decent Growth Potential to Watch Ahead
- StockBeat: No Hiding Place (Except Tesco)
- Ramping up COVID-19 testing earlier would have helped the UK, top adviser says
- How Bassett (BSET) Stock Stands Out in a Strong Industry
- HAGENS BERMAN, NATIONAL TRIAL ATTORNEYS, Encourages Crown Castle (CCI) Investors Who Have Suffered Losses to Contact its Attorneys: Securities Fraud Case Filed
- One Metric To Rule Them All: Ground Rents Income Fund PLC (LON:GRIO)
热门文章
- SponsorsOne Assembles Management Dream Team For Craft Alcohol Product Development, Branding, Marketing, Sales and Distribution
- Exxon CEO sticks to spending targets as oil prices tumble
- Why Is Maximus (MMS) Down 12.8% Since Last Earnings Report?
- BRIEF-Wangfujing Group, BTG Hotels' Chairman Passed Away Due To Illness
站长推荐
Donaldson (DCI) Q1 Earnings & Sales Top Estimates, Decline Y/Y
From wagyu beef to melons, Japan's $2.2 trillion virus rescue piques struggling firms
Asia-Pacific Shares Settle Higher as China Factory Activity Expands Beyond Expectations
Top 5 Things to Know in the Market on Monday, June 1st
The Global Virtualization in Industrial Automation Market is expected to grow by $ 216.39 mn during 2020-2024 progressing at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period
The Attractive Combination That Could Earn Allegiance Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABTX) A Place In Your Dividend Portfolio
The Global Virtualization in Industrial Automation Market is expected to grow by $ 216.39 mn during 2020-2024 progressing at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period
Biden Holds onto a Winning Margin in the Polls after the 1st Debate
友情链接
- This Broker Just Slashed Their Freelance.com SA (EPA:ALFRE) Earnings Forecasts
- Crude Oil Price Update – Needs to Hold Major 50% Level at $36.07 to Sustain Upside Momentum
- What to do if you're fired during coronavirus
- Where Do Hedge Funds Stand On FS Bancorp, Inc. (FSBW)?
- Is G5 Entertainment AB (publ)'s (STO:G5EN) Latest Stock Performance A Reflection Of Its Financial Health?
- India gold discounts at widest in five months as prices surge
- J.C. Penney announces locations of 154 stores closing across the US
- IMPORTANT APRIL DEADLINE REMINDER: The Schall Law Firm Announces the Filing of a Class Action Lawsuit Against MGP Ingredients, Inc. and Encourages Investors with Losses in Excess of $100,000 to Contact the Firm
- Apple's New Deal With Amazon Prime Video Is a Game Changer
- Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Crushed by ‘Exceptionally Comfortable’ Temps Ahead of EIA Data