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Washington, October 8
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is about to fly over the subject of the Kuiper Belt, nicknamed Ultima Thule, for the New Year, an event that will set the record for the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft, scientists said.
The probe successfully completed the three-and-a-half-minute maneuver on October 3 to return home, NASA said in a statement.
The maneuver slightly altered the trajectory of the spacecraft and increased its speed by 2.1 meters per second, allowing it to fly over Ultima – officially named 2014 MU69 – on 1 January 2019.
"Through this maneuver, we are in the middle of the pike and at the time of the most advanced exploration of worlds of history – to more than one billion kilometers from Pluto "said Alan Stern, senior scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in the US.
At 6.6 billion kilometers from Earth, Ultima Thule will be the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft.
New Horizons himself was about 6.35 billion kilometers from home when he did Wednesday's course correction maneuver (TCM), the most advanced course correction ever made.
This was the first Ultima targeting maneuver using images taken by New Horizons himself to determine the position of the spacecraft relative to the Kuiper Belt object.
These "optical navigation" images, collected by New Horizons LORRI (Long Range Reconnaissance Imager), provide direct information on Ultima's position with respect to New Horizons, and help the team determine the orientation. of the spacecraft.
The New Horizons team designed the TCM by determining the current trajectories of the spacecraft and its target, then calculating the maneuvers needed to place the spacecraft at the desired "target point" of the spacecraft. overflight – 3,500 km – from Ultima to its closest encounter.
"The recent navigation images have helped us confirm that Ultima is about 500 kilometers from its intended position, which is exceptionally good," said Fred Pelletier, head of the New Horizons Navigation Team. , of KinetX Aerospace, Inc.
Confirming that Ultima is in the planned location is an important and somewhat unique aspect of this overview.
"Since we fly very fast and close to the surface of Ultima, about four times closer than Pluto's flyby in July 2015, the flyby must be very accurate," said Derek Nelson, navigation manager. at New Horizons, also from KinetX.
"The images help determine the position and timing of the flyby, but we also need to trust Ultima's pre-estimated position and speed to ensure flyover success," said Nelson.
"These early images give us confidence that Ultima is exactly what we expected and that the timing of the flyby will be accurate," he said.
The spacecraft is only 112 million kilometers from Ultima at 51,911 kilometers per hour.
The team will eventually have to guide the spacecraft in a "box" of about 120 km by 320 km and plan the overflight within 140 seconds. PTI
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