New Horizons

16 Stories

Most Distant World Ever Explored Gets a New Name

Arrokoth is 1B miles beyond Pluto

(Newser) - The most distant world ever explored 4 billion miles away finally has an official name: Arrokoth. That means "sky" in the language of the Native American Powhatan people, NASA said Tuesday. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past the snowman-shaped Arrokoth on New Year's Day, 3.5 years...

After Incredible Feat, NASA Shares First Close-Up

Ultima Thule looks like a reddish snowman

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft traveling 4 billion miles from Earth has sent back its first close-up pictures of the most distant celestial object ever explored , and it looks like a reddish snowman. Ultima Thule, as the small, icy object has been dubbed, is an elongated body about 20 miles long, consisting...

NASA Spacecraft Just Did Something Extraordinary

New Horizons made it to Ultima Thule, some 4B miles away

(Newser) - NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has survived the most distant exploration of another world, a tiny, icy object 4 billion miles away that looks to be shaped like a peanut or bowling pin. Word of success came 10 hours after the middle-of-the-night encounter, once flight controllers in Maryland received word...

NASA Spacecraft to Whiz By Most Distant Target Yet
New Year, New NASA
Milestone

New Year, New NASA Milestone

A spacecraft is set to swing by the most distant celestial body ever

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft is set to make a New Year's Day rendezvous with a tiny, icy world a billion miles farther than Pluto, in what would make it the most distant cosmic body ever explored by humankind. New Horizons was on course to fly past the mysterious, primitive object...

Farthest Photos Ever Taken, From Nearly 4B Miles Away

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft snapped the pics in December

(Newser) - The NASA spacecraft that gave us close-ups of Pluto has set a record for the farthest photos ever taken, the AP reports. In December—while 3.79 billion miles from Earth—the New Horizons spacecraft snapped a picture of a star cluster. The photo surpassed the "Pale Blue Dot"...

NASA Needs Your Help to Nickname Tiny World

'2014 MU69' just not that catchy

(Newser) - Heads up, armchair travelers. NASA is seeking a nickname for a tiny, icy world on the edge of the solar system that's the next destination for New Horizons, the spacecraft that surveyed Pluto. New Horizons whipped past Pluto two years ago, and now it's headed for 2014 MU69—...

No, Those Aren't Snails on Pluto

They're dirty icebergs, say NASA scientists

(Newser) - Bad news for future residents of Pluto with a fondness for escargot: The planet is not, in fact, covered with giant snails—despite images beamed back to Earth from the New Horizons probe that bear a weird resemblance to the creatures. The images, published by NASA, show oddly-shaped objects in...

After Pluto, Spacecraft Has Another Big Mission

Next up: the Kuiper belt

(Newser) - The New Horizons spacecraft has wowed us back on Earth with its 3 billion-mile Pluto mission , but it's still got a lot of traveling to do. In fact, scientists expect it to keep making headlines for another two decades or so. After Pluto, the spacecraft is off to explore...

Pluto Spacecraft Reconnects With Earthlings

New Horizons makes contact after historic mission

(Newser) - The NASA spacecraft that had astronomers cheering this morning with a successful flyby of Pluto had them cheering again tonight when it re-established connection with Earth. The New Horizons craft had gone dark for more than 12 hours as expected while it collected data from the dwarf planet and its...

One Very Special Man's Ashes Fly by Pluto Tomorrow

It's a final wish come true for discoverer Clyde Tombaugh

(Newser) - On Feb. 18, 1930, a young astronomer poring over a series of images of the sky, taken from a telescope at Arizona's Lowell Observatory, spotted movement among some 150,000 stars, reports Space.com . Tomorrow, Clyde Tombaugh—whose last wish before his death in 1997 was for his ashes...

Scientists Spy a Doughnut, Whale on Pluto

Our closest view yet reveals familiar shapes on planet's surface

(Newser) - NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is set to pass within 7,750 miles of Pluto on Tuesday, and the probe has now sent us our closest view yet of the dwarf planet. Look closely and you might see some familiar shapes: Specifically, the image, taken from 5 million miles away,...

NASA Spacecraft on Pluto's Doorstep

New images of planet's 'faces' show 'complex surface': scientist

(Newser) - NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is all set for what Space.com predicts will be a "truly epic encounter" with Pluto next month. The first spacecraft ever sent to the dwarf planet, New Horizons is now about 20 million miles away—and 2.9 billion miles from Earth, reports...

This Is a Spacecraft's First Color Pic of Pluto

New Horizons will have much sharper ones soon

(Newser) - Pluto and Charon, its Texas-sized moon, are still just blobs in what NASA says is the "first color image ever made of the Pluto system by a spacecraft on approach," but they're a sign of very exciting things to come. After nine years and 2.9 billion...

You Can Name Parts of Pluto
 You Can Name 
 Parts of Pluto 

You Can Name Parts of Pluto

Public invited to submit, vote on, suggestions

(Newser) - Some think Pluto may be welcomed back into the planet fold this year, and now the SETI Institute has more good news for Pluto's fans: The public will get to name its most prominent features. Everyone's invited to the "Our Pluto" website to vote on previously selected...

NASA Craft Gets Final Wake-Up Call for Pluto Flyby

New Horizons probe is awake and ready for its July 2015 encounter

(Newser) - New Horizons just got what's probably the earliest wakeup call ever. Even though it's not supposed to fly by Pluto—the destination of its nine-year, 3-billion-mile journey—until July, the NASA craft roused itself from its "hibernation" slumber and is fully awake for the last leg of...

NASA Probe Gets Lucky with Jupiter Flyby

Spacecraft New Horizons sees storms and supervolcanoes

(Newser) - New Horizons, the robotic probe destined to reach Pluto in 2015, took some exciting photos when it flew within 1.4 million miles of Jupiter last February. Data from the fruitful detour for NASA’s fastest spacecraft will be published in Science this month. Highlights include photos of Jupiter’s...

16 Stories