NASA is preparing a special encounter between its New Horizons spacecraft and an unusual object that orbits at a distance of 1.6 billion miles from Pluto. The event is scheduled to happen on January 1st 2019, but until then researchers are following their new discovery with maximum attention.
Since New Horizons’ next target is very exotic and the subject of many speculations, NASA experts decided to give it a nickname. They chose Ultima Thule for the object because they still haven’t uncovered its mystery.
What is the situation with Ultima Thule
Although at first, it was just an unidentified object, Ultima Thule is becoming more and more popular among NASA scientists. If you are wondering why this name was chosen, you will be amazed to find out that terms come from medieval times and define a notion that goes beyond the limits of the known world and our imagination.
As a matter of fact, researchers know that New Horizon’s future mission will be the first step towards exploring mysterious areas from our Universe. They still have a lot of question marks regarding this mission, because they don’t know what to expect. However, they hope that most of the unknown aspects will be clarified before the big launch.
Public’s opinion is very important for NASA and this is the main reason for which they decided to start a public campaign for choosing the unusual object’s name. The campaign happened between November and December 2017.
The mission will be the first that takes a spacecraft this far, even beyond the human mind’s power of imagination. For this reason, scientists are confident that they will be the authors of a historical breakthrough.
Until New Horizons will take off for new beginnings, NASA will be ready to embrace the first sight from a far, unfriendly world. All those interested in science and space matters are invited to following the preparations made for the mission and wait for the result.
