NASA Explores Mysterious Object Behind Pluto – Science

While studying Pluto, NASA noticed a strange piece of rock and ice. From January 1st, a probe will go to explore it more closely.

Successfully capturing Pluto in photo had already been a real challenge for NASA. The space agency does not intend to stop there, as told the Baltimore Sun Thursday, December 27. His next goal: to capture on January 1 a strange phenomenon seen behind Pluto, 6.5 billion kilometers from Earth.

A mission that starts on January 1st

NASA sent the New Horizons spacecraft in 2006 to explore Pluto and its surroundings. In July 2015, the first images of the planet were captured thanks to a camera called LORRI, capable of taking 11 images every 24 hours.

More than 3 years later, NASA is launching a new challenge. The space agency would like to capture a mysterious piece of red rock and ice behind Pluto.

It plans to fly over this asteroid, which scientists have dubbed Ultima Thule ("beyond the known world"), this January 1, 2019. New Horizons will arrive at 18 hours French time. He will transmit first images in stride to the Earth.

" It's pure exploration "

" It's pure exploration Said Baltimore Sun Alan Stern, in charge of the mission. " We are moving towards something totally unknown and different from what we have been able to study in the past ", he added.

If it fascinates the scientific community as much, it is because this object seen in the Kuiper belt – which shelters hundreds of thousands of asteroids – could be the oldest ever observed. It could date from the period during which the planets of the solar system were formed, billions of years ago. It would be about 32 kilometers long, according to the first observations. It is not known whether it is formed of one end, or of several.

It had taken 10 years for New Horizons to reach Pluto. Scientists estimate that the probe will still be able to hold until at least 2030, but it is fragile: a single debris in the space of the size of a grain of rice, they judge, could render it ineffective. It will not be necessary to miss the mark for Ultima Thule. The object is indeed so "small" (locally) that Nasa teams are afraid of missing it. They hope to be able to come within a radius of about 3,000 kilometers.