New Horizons
New Horizons is a NASA space probe that was launched in 2006 with the objective of conducting a close flyby of Pluto, which it accomplished in July 2015. The probe has since continued its mission to study other objects in the Kuiper Belt, a region beyond Neptune that is home to many icy bodies.
About
The probe has since continued its mission to study other objects in the Kuiper Belt, a region beyond Neptune that is home to many icy bodies. The New Horizons spacecraft was the fastest ever launched, thanks to an innovative trajectory that utilized gravitational assists from Jupiter to increase its speed. It carried a suite of scientific instruments to gather data on Pluto's atmosphere, geology, and composition, providing unprecedented insights into this distant dwarf planet. Following the Pluto flyby, New Horizons has gone on to explore other small Kuiper Belt objects, the most notable being its flyby of Ultima Thule in 2019, which revealed valuable information about the early history of the Solar System. The spacecraft continues to operate and inform our understanding of the outer reaches of our celestial neighborhood. The New Horizons mission has been hailed as a great success, achieving its primary objective and uncovering many surprises along the way. Its discoveries have reshaped our understanding of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, highlighting the diversity and dynamism of these distant regions. The wealth of knowledge gained from the mission will continue to be analyzed and studied for years to come.