NASA's probe is getting closer to the most distant Ultimate Thule asteroid – news from UNN

KYIV. January 1st. UNN. NASA's New Horizons, the US space agency, has come close to the most distant and perhaps the oldest known space object of humanity – the ultimate Thule asteroid. UNN referring to AFP

Cameras fixed an object at a distance of 6.4 billion kilometers from the Earth in the dark and desolate cosmic space of the Kuiper belt. Ultima Thule, meaning "extreme", is the farthest body of a spacecraft.

New Horizons travels at a speed greater than 50,000 km / h and approaches the surface of the oldest known asteroids at 3,500 km. . The transfer of the video on the asteroid was delayed to 10 hours.

It should be noted that the uniqueness of Ultima Thule is that it represents a relic of the birth of the solar system and that it can answer some questions about the origin of the planets. Thanks to the frozen state, the asteroid is still in its original state.

Earlier UNN reported that the equipment of the US interplanetary station New Horizons had been converted into a mode of preparation for reconciliation with the asteroid Ultima Thule, designated in the astronomical catalogs as an object (486958) 2014 MU ₆₉ .

Astronomical observations made last year indicate that Ultima Thule will likely be a fragile irregular shape with a diameter of 30 to 40 km, or a pair of asteroids of 20 km in diameter each.