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We’re further into space than ever before

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London, UK
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NASA just pulled off humanityโ€™s farthest-ever visit to an object in space.

NASAโ€™s nuclear-powered New Horizon probe just flew past (and took pictures of) an object 4 billion miles from earth.

The specific rock in question is, to be honest, nothing to write home about. 2014 MU69, aka โ€˜Ultima Thuleโ€™, is essentially just a mountain-sized rock 1 billion miles beyond the orbit of Pluto. It looks something like this:

So, itโ€™s not exactly the prettiest rock weโ€™ve ever seen. But thatโ€™s not the point.

At 10am on New Years Day, New Horizons sent a signal back to NASA headquarters alerting it that it had successfully entered MU69โ€™s orbit, and was in the process of beaming thousands of photos back home for scientists to study.

Think about it. We have the ability to build a rocket on earth, send itย 4 billionย miles away (thatโ€™s four thousand millions), and still get it to send detailed photos back to us.

It wasnโ€™t so long ago that getting to the moon was a struggle.

But MU69 does hold some interest to NASA beyond its distance from Earth. It lives in a zone called the Kuiper Belt, a region where frozen leftovers of the solar system’s formation (as far back as the Big Bang) lurk in the millions.

MU69 is one of these remains. It has stayed in its icy orbit for billions of years. Thus, data collected from the object could reveal new clues about how the solar system evolved.

You can watch the main New Horizons events via the NASA Live video player below:

Departed London, UK

My interests include social and climate justice, womenโ€™s issues, and human rights. If you\’re keen on current affairs and social change, check out my profile! Follow me on Twitter and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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