News Archive / Tagged: KBO 2014 MU69

• New Horizons mission invites public to celebrate New Year’s KBO flyby

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 5th, 2018

  The world may have celebrated New Year's 2018 just days ago, but NASA's New Horizons mission is already inviting the public to welcome 2019 with a visit to Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69.

• New Horizons put in final hibernation before 2019 KBO flyby

  Laurel KornfeldDecember 24th, 2017

  A little over a year before its New Year's day 2019 flyby of Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft was put into its final hibernation prior to the visit.

• Occultation data hints New Horizons’ next flyby target may have a moon

  Laurel KornfeldDecember 13th, 2017

  New Horizons' second target – Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69 – may have a small moon, mission science team member Marc Buie of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado, reported on Monday, December 11, 2017, at this week's meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in New Orleans, Louisiana.

• Engine burn refines New Horizons’ journey to KBO 2014 MU69

  Laurel KornfeldDecember 12th, 2017

  To optimize the timing of New Horizons' closest flyby of Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69, mission engineers carried out the spacecraft's last engine burn during the long "cruise" phase of its journey – between Pluto and its second target (MU69) – on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017.

• Vote on names for New Horizons’ second target extended to Dec. 6

  Laurel KornfeldDecember 3rd, 2017

  NASA's public campaign seeking name suggestions for New Horizons' second target, 2014 MU69, has garnered so many creative suggestions that its deadline has been extended for another five days.

• Public invited to vote on nicknames for New Horizons’ next target

  Laurel KornfeldNovember 8th, 2017

  With just a little over a year remaining until New Horizons' flyby of 2014 MU69, NASA is asking the public for help in choosing a nickname for the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO).

• Wakened from its latest hibernation, New Horizons may visit additional Kuiper Belt Objects

  Laurel KornfeldSeptember 16th, 2017

  Newly awakened from a five-month hibernation, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft may visit a third Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) after flying by 2014 MU69 on Jan. 1, 2019. Mission scientists at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) received confirmation from NASA's Deep Space Network in Madrid, Spain, that the probe exited hibernation mode on Monday, Sept. 11, 2017.

• New Horizons sets flight plan for 2nd target; IAU accepts Pluto system names

  Laurel KornfeldSeptember 9th, 2017

  NASA's New Horizons mission has filed a flight plan for its January 1, 2019, flyby of Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69, which will bring the spacecraft three times closer to its second target than it came to Pluto during the upcoming encounter.

• New Horizons’ KBO target may be a binary

  Laurel KornfeldAugust 4th, 2017

  New Horizons' second target – Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69 – may actually be a binary system composed of two objects that either touch one another or orbit very close together, according to observations conducted by mission scientists when the KBO passed in front of a star on July 17, 2017.

• New Horizons team obtains wealth of data from 2014 MU69 occultation

  Laurel KornfeldJuly 24th, 2017

  NASA's New Horizons team captured crucial data on Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) 2014 MU69 – the spacecraft's second target – during a third organized observation of the KBO occulting a star on Monday, July 17, 2017.

• Occultation data raises questions about New Horizons’ target KBO

  Laurel KornfeldJuly 8th, 2017

  Data collected on NASA's New Horizons spacecraft's second flyby target, 2014 MU69, during its June 3 occultation of a star, may indicate the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) is smaller and brighter than previously thought.

• New Horizons scientists study KBO by observing star occultation

  Laurel KornfeldJune 23rd, 2017

  A total of 54 New Horizons observation teams successfully obtained crucial data about the spacecraft's second target, 2014 MU69, when the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) occulted (or passed in front of) a star on the night of June 2–3.

• Stellar occultations by KBO 2014 MU69 will give scientists crucial data

  Laurel KornfeldMay 28th, 2017

  Members of NASA's New Horizons team will have three opportunities to obtain crucial data regarding 2014 MU69 – the mission's second target – when the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) occults three different stars within the next few weeks.

• New Horizons reaches halfway mark between Pluto and second target

  Laurel KornfeldApril 6th, 2017

  NASA's New Horizons spacecraft reached the halfway point between Pluto and its second flyby target, KBO 2014 MU69, at midnight UTC on Monday, April 3 (8:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, April 2) at a distance of 486.19 million miles (782.45 million kilometers) from Pluto and the same distance to MU69.

• Seven co-investigators join New Horizons team

  Laurel KornfeldMarch 17th, 2017

  In anticipation of New Horizons' flyby of its second target – Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 – on January 1, 2019, NASA and Principal Investigator Alan Stern have added seven new co-investigators to the mission team.