New Horizons Pluto probe nearing its target

Ultima Thule. I like it.
 
The official name is 2014 MU69, rolls off the tongue.
 
Forty days to go.

Some of the pertinent detail.

At Ultima Thule’s distance of 4 billion miles from the sun — 43 times farther than Earth — it will take radio signals carrying high-resolution pictures, spectroscopic data and other priceless information, traveling at 186,000 miles every second, six hours seven minutes and 58 seconds to cross the gulf to Earth.

Given the enormous distance and the spacecraft’s 30-watt radio transmitter, it will take 20 months to beam back the full treasure trove of data collected before, during and after the flyby. But a sampling of high-resolution images is expected to reach scientists gathered at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory the evening of Jan. 1 and the morning of Jan. 2.

New Horizons on track for historic New Year’s Day flyby of Ultima Thule – Spaceflight Now
 
Course correction two days ago went without a hitch.

I forgot to mention the craft and its target are over six light hours away, so nobody will know if there's a bird strike for quite a while, if at all.
 
What was/is in the sights. under 48 hours to go. The current trajectory means a 35m per pixel resolution is possible, New Horizons passed Pluto and moons at nearly 58000 km per hour, current velocity relative to 2014 MU69 is a gnats testicle under 52000 km/h.



NH What and where.webp
 
Last edited:
Last pointing corrections made, not the craft trajectory, but the panning of the cameras and other instruments to ensure MU69 is focused correctly during the fly past.

First confirmation will be received around 15.27 UK time.
 
Back
Top