PIA21943: Artist Concept: Flying by a 2014 MU69


Artist Concept: Flying by a 2014 MU69

Caption:

Artist's concept of the New Horizons spacecraft flying by a possible binary 2014 MU69 on Jan. 1, 2019. Early observations of MU69 hint at the Kuiper Belt object being either a binary orbiting pair or a contact (stuck together) pair of nearly like-sized bodies with diameters near 20 and 18 kilometers (12 and 11 miles).

Background Info:

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, designed, built, and operates the New Horizons spacecraft, and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, leads the science team, payload operations and encounter science planning. New Horizons is part of the New Frontiers Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target 486958 Arrokoth
System Kuiper Belt
Target Type KBO
Mission New Horizons
Instrument Host New Horizons
Host Type Flyby Spacecraft
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Artwork, Color
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2017-09-06
Date in Caption 2019-01-01
Image Credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21943
Identifier PIA21943