Potential Target 1 tagged posts

Path of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft toward its next potential target, the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, nicknamed “PT1” (for “Potential Target 1”) by the New Horizons team. NASA must approve any New Horizons extended mission to explore a KBO. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Alex Parker

The next destination for the New Horizons mission to visit after its historic July 14 flyby of the Pluto system is likely a small Kuiper Belt object (KBO) known as 2014 MU69 that orbits nearly a billion miles beyond Pluto.

The team needs to direct New Horizons toward the object this year in order to perform any extended mission with healthy fuel margins...