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NASA’s New Horizons Team Publishes First Kuiper Belt Flyby Science

Results

In partial fulfilment for the course


Earth and Life Science

Prepared by
Marigel Corpin

BSBA HR 1-K

Presented to
Prof. Jayson Pleno

January 2019
NASA’s New Horizons Team Publishes First Kuiper Belt Flyby Science
Results

‘Most distant object ever


explored presents mysteries
of its formation.’

NASA’s New Horizons mission team


has published the first profile of the farthest
world ever explored, a planetary building
block and Kuiper Belt object called 2014
MU69.

Analyzing just the first sets of data gathered


during the New Horizons spacecraft’s New Year’s 2019 flyby of MU69 (nicknamed Ultima
Thule) the mission team quickly discovered an object far more complex than expected. The team
publishes the first peer-reviewed scientific results and interpretations – just four months after the
flyby – in the May 17 issue of the journal Science.

In addition to being the farthest exploration of an object in history – four billion miles from Earth
– the flyby of Ultima Thule was also the first investigation by any space mission of a well-
preserved planetesimal, an ancient relic from the era of planet formation.

What is the most recent news about the spacecraft last May 2019? - The initial data
summarized in Science reveal much about the object’s development, geology and composition.
It’s a contact binary, with two distinctly differently shaped lobes. At about 22 miles (36
kilometers) long, Ultima Thule consists of a large, strangely flat lobe (nicknamed "Ultima")
connected to a smaller, somewhat rounder lobe (nicknamed "Thule"), at a juncture nicknamed
“the neck.” How the two lobes got their unusual shape is an unanticipated mystery that likely
relates to how they formed billions of years ago.\

What is the distance of the spacecraft from earth as of May 2019? - Data transmission from
the flyby continues, and will go on until the late summer 2020. In the meantime, New Horizons
continues to carry out new observations of additional Kuiper Belt objects it passes in the distance.
These additional KBOs are too distant to reveal discoveries like those on MU69, but the team
can measure aspects such as the object’s brightness. New Horizons also continues to map the
charged-particle radiation and dust environment in the Kuiper Belt.

The New Horizons spacecraft is now 4.1 billion miles (6.6 billion kilometers) from Earth,
operating normally and speeding deeper into the Kuiper Belt at nearly 33,000 miles (53,000
kilometers) per hour.

Far, Far Away in the Sky: New Horizons Kuiper Belt Flyby Object Officially
Named 'Arrokoth'

What Arrokoth mean? - November 2019 - In a fitting tribute to the farthest flyby ever
conducted by spacecraft, the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 has been officially named Arrokoth,
a Native American term meaning “sky” in the Powhatan/Algonquian language.

With consent from Powhatan Tribal elders and representatives, NASA’s New Horizons team –
whose spacecraft performed the record-breaking reconnaissance of Arrokoth four billion miles
from Earth – proposed the name to the International Astronomical Union and Minor Planets
Center, the international authority for naming Kuiper Belt objects. The name was announced at a
ceremony today at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

“The name ‘Arrokoth’ reflects the inspiration of looking to the skies and wondering about the
stars and worlds beyond our own,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator from
Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado. “That desire to learn is at the heart of the New
Horizons mission, and we’re honored to join with the Powhatan community and people of
Maryland in this celebration of discovery.”

New Horizons launched in January 2006; it then zipped past Jupiter for a gravity boost and
scientific studies in February 2007 and conducted an historic first flight through the Pluto system
on July 14, 2015. The spacecraft continued its unparalleled voyage on New Year’s 2019 with the
exploration of Arrokoth – which the team had nicknamed “Ultima Thule” -- a billion miles
beyond Pluto, and the farthest flyby ever conducted.

Arrokoth is one of the thousands of known small icy worlds in the Kuiper Belt, the vast
“third zone” of the solar system beyond the inner terrestrial planets and the outer gas giant
planets. It was discovered in 2014 by a New Horizons team – which included Marc Buie, of the
Southwest Research Institute – using the powerful Hubble Space Telescope.
“Data from the newly-named Arrokoth, has given us clues about the formation of planets and our
cosmic origins,” said Buie. “We believe this ancient body, composed of two distinct lobes that
merged into one entity, may harbor answers that contribute to our understanding of the origin of
life on Earth.”

“We graciously accept this gift from the Powhatan people,” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s
Planetary Science Division. “Bestowing the name Arrokoth signifies the strength and endurance
of the indigenous Algonquian people of the Chesapeake region. Their heritage continues to be a
guiding light for all who search for meaning and understanding of the origins of the universe and
the celestial connection of humanity.”

The Pamunkey Reservation in King William County, Virginia, is the oldest American Indian
reservation in the U.S. -- formed by a treaty with England in the 1600s and finally receiving
federal recognition in July 2015. The Pamunkey tribe and its village were significant in the
original Powhatan Confederacy; today, Pamunkey tribal members work collaboratively with
other Powhatan tribes in Virginia and also have descendants who are members of the Powhatan-
Renape Nation in New Jersey. Many direct descendants still live on the Pamunkey reservation,
while others have moved to Northern Virginia, Maryland, D.C., New York and New Jersey.

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