This image taken by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) is the most detailed of Ultima Thule returned so far by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. It was taken at 5:01 Universal Time on January 1, 2019, just 30 minutes before closest approach from a range of 18,000 miles (28,000 kilometers), with an original scale of 459 feet (140 meters) per pixel.
At top is a composite of two images taken by New Horizons’ high-resolution Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), which provides the best indication of Ultima Thule’s size and shape so far. Preliminary measurements of this Kuiper Belt object suggest it is approximately 20 miles long by 10 miles wide (32 kilometers by 16 kilometers). Team members at the Jan 1, 2018
This image shows the first detection of 2014 MU69 (nicknamed “Ultima Thule”), using the highest resolution mode (known as “1×1”) of the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard the New Horizons spacecraft. Three separate images, each with an exposure time of 0.5 seconds, were combined to produce the image shown here. All three images were taken on Dec. 24, 2018,
Illustration of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft encountering 2014 MU69 – nicknamed “Ultima Thule” – a Kuiper Belt object that orbits one billion miles beyond Pluto. Set for New Year’s 2019, New Horizons’ exploration of Ultima will be the farthest space probe flyby in history. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI Ken Kremer —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –28 December 2018 JHU APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY, MD / KENNEDY
Released from the Transporter-Erector 9 Merlin 1D first stage engines soar past gripper arm in Up Close view as SpaceX Falcon 9 soars to MEO carrying GPS III SV01 from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Dec. 23, 2018 at 8:51 a.m. EST for USAF. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –25 December 2018
A Falcon 9 carrying GPS III SV01 lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Dec. 23, 2018 at 8:51 a.m. EST. The first GPS III to be launched will join the current GPS constellation comprised of 31 operational spacecraft. GPS satellites operate in medium earth orbit at an altitude of approximately 20,200 km
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket poised for liftoff carrying GPS III SV01 mission for the US Air Force from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Dec. 20, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –19 December 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL- Will the third time be the charm? After scrubbing this morning’s 2nd
NASA’s InSight spacecraft, its heat shield and its parachute were imaged on Dec. 6, and 11, 2018 by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Ken Kremer —SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –18 December 2018 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The exact location of the newest resident on Mars, NASA’s InSight Lander, has been uncovered thanks to detective work
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket venting liquid oxygen in the final minutes of countdown for launch on Dec. 18, 2018 until temperature issue forced 24 hour scrub to Dec. 19 for 9:07 a.m. EST liftoff of advanced GPS III SV01 mission for the US Air Force from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket poised at night on Dec. 17 for liftoff on GPS III SV01 mission for the US Air Force from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Dec. 18, 2018 at 9:11 am EST. Expendable booster will not be recovered and lacks grid fins and landing legs. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer —SpaceUpClose.com &