In just under a year , one of the most brave space missions ever will take piazza when NASA ’s New Horizons spacecraft visits an target in the outer Solar System . It will be the most distant target we ’ve ever explored , one that could give us a fascinating perceptiveness into our own beginnings .
The target is 2014 MU69 , a mysterious Kuiper Belt Object ( KBO ) that orbit a billion miles beyond Pluto – itself visit by New Horizons in July 2015 . consider to be a oddment of the former Solar System , MU69 is a possiblebinary objectno more than 32 kilometers ( 20 mile ) across that ’s hiding plenty of secrets .
On January 1 , 2019 , those secrets are set to be expose , when New Horizons will pounce past the surface before continuing on its path out of the Solar System . Preparation for this groundbreaking ceremony moment lead off much earlier , however , with a number of key dates throughout 2018 leading up to the climax .
“ This point in the distance is go to develop brilliant and lustrous all the way until the very last mean solar day of the yr , ” Alan Stern , New Horizons principal investigator , told IFLScience . “ Our project schedule has hundreds of milestone . ”
The excitement begin on June 4 , when the ballistic capsule will be waken from hibernation . In August , it will begin taking observational range of the object from afar to ensure it ’s on the right track to fly by at a space of 3,500 kilometers ( 2,175 mile ) – more than three sentence closer than thePluto flyby .
In September , the squad will start out look for for moons orbiting the object , important for ensuring the flyby operate smoothly . From October onwards , the quality of images flick by New Horizons will surpass that of Hubble , used to discover MU69 in 2014 .
It wo n’t be until just after Christmas Day , however , that we in reality know what MU69 see like . Its shape will be reveal just days prior to the flyby , and then just after midnight on New Year ’s Day 2019 , New Horizons will make its skinny overture , sending its paradigm and data back to Earth .
“ We ’re move to see something that see back to the formation of the Solar System , ” Marc Buie , a New Horizons science squad member , said in astatement .
During the flyby , New Horizons will be using all of its instruments , include its tv camera , to gather as much information as possible – comparable to the Pluto flyby in the quantity of datum . It will take until September 2020 to place all of this information back .
This elongated phase of the mission is schedule to remain until 2021 , with the rest of New Horizons ’ time devoted to study another two twelve Kuiper belt object from a smashing distance . The missionary work is n’t expected to end there , though , as the spacecraft remain on its way out of the Solar System .
“ Probably in 2020 , we will put together a 2nd extended delegation proposal of marriage to do more scientific discipline further out , ” said Stern . “ There ’s no rationality we should n’t stay on to run out to the 2020s and 2030s . ”
There ’s even a small possibility that New Horizons could be station to visit another KBO after it entrust MU69 . That will depend on another suitable target being find oneself . None has emerged so far , but the team are constantly on the lookout , considering the alone science this would afford .
For now , all oculus are on MU69 . As champagne corks pop on Earth on New Year ’s Eve , a spacecraft 4 billion miles away will be having a celebration of its own – one that will not be bested for the forseeable futurity .
