Pluto explorer spots next destination billion miles beyond

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft that explored Pluto has spotted its next target on the outskirts of our solar system.

NASA this week revealed pictures taken by New Horizons earlier this month of a tiny icy world known as Ultima Thule (THOO-lee). New Horizons is aiming for a flyby on New Year's Day. It will be humanity's most distant exploration of a celestial body, 4 billion miles (6.4 billion kilometers) from Earth and 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto.

New Horizons in 2015 became the first spacecraft to visit Pluto. Ultima Thule is minuscule by comparison, a...

 

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