NASA's Parker Solar Probe Starts 2nd Solar Orbit with ‘All Systems GO’

NASA's Parker Solar completed its first orbit around the Sun and begun its second on Jan. 19, 2019. Credit: NASA

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM -- 31 January 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - NASA’s history making Parker Solar Probe is in great shape and returning reams of data to scientists back on Earth as she officially completed her first orbit around the sun and begun her second solar orbit days ago on Jan. 19, just 161 days after a spectacular nighttime blastoff on a ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, NASA officials announced. 

With “All Systems GO” Parker has begun the second of at least 24 solar orbits and is on track for the second perihelion, or closest approach to the Sun, on April 4, 2019. 

On Jan. 19, Parker “completed its first orbit of the Sun, reaching the point in its orbit farthest from our star, called aphelion.”

The spacecraft has now begun the second of 24 planned orbits, on track for its second perihelion, or closest approach to the Sun, on April 4, 2019.

To date Parker has beamed back over 17 gigabits of science data to eagerly waiting scientists back on Earth via the Deep Space Network (DSN).

Parker Solar Probe entered full operational status (known as Phase E) on New Years Day, Jan. 1,” with all systems online and operating as designed,” according to the team.

During this 1^st solar perihelion flyby by Parker, the $1.5 Billion science probe plunged to within a record breaking 15 million miles (24 million kilometers) of the suns blazing hot surface and intense radiation - while speeding by at a truly phenomenal and likewise record breaking velocity of 213,200 miles per hour (343,112 km/h).  

The full dataset from the first orbit will be downloaded by April, say officials.

This image from Parker Solar Probe's WISPR (Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe) instrument shows a coronal streamer, seen over the east limb of the Sun on Nov. 8, 2018, at 1:12 a.m. EST. Coronal streamers are structures of solar material within the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, that usually overlie regions of increased solar activity. The fine structure of the streamer is very clear, with at least two rays visible. Parker Solar Probe was about 16.9 million miles from the Sun's surface when this image was taken. The bright object near the center of the image is Mercury, and the dark spots are a result of background correction.  Credits: NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe

"It’s been an illuminating and fascinating first orbit,” said Parker Solar Probe Project Manager Andy Driesman, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, in a statement.

“We’ve learned a lot about how the spacecraft operates and reacts to the solar environment, and I’m proud to say the team’s projections have been very accurate.” APL designed, built, and manages the mission for NASA.

NASA Parker Solar Probe’s position, speed and round-trip light time as of Jan. 28, 2019. Credit: NASA

“We’ve always said that we don’t know what to expect until we look at the data,” said Project Scientist Nour Raouafi, also of APL. “The data we have received hints at many new things that we’ve not seen before and at potential new discoveries. Parker Solar Probe is delivering on the mission’s promise of revealing the mysteries of our Sun.”

Meanwhile, the science and engineering team is already preparing the spacecraft and science instruments for the second close solar perihelion flyby just two months away.

“In preparation for that next encounter, the spacecraft’s solid state recorder is being emptied of files that have already been delivered to Earth. In addition, the spacecraft is receiving updated positional and navigation information (called ephemeris) and is being loaded with a new automated command sequence, which contains about one month’s worth of instructions.”

The right side of this image — from WISPR’s inner telescope — has a 40-degree field of view, with its right edge 58.5 degrees from the Sun’s center. The left side of the image is from WISPR’s outer telescope, which has a 58-degree field of view and extends to about 160 degrees from the Sun. There is a parallax of about 13 degrees in the apparent position of the Sun as viewed from Earth and from Parker Solar Probe. Credit: NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe

Parker is equipped with four on-board science instruments suites. Because of the probes proximity to the sun it will take several weeks before the science data begins downlinking to scientists on Earth.

The key goals are to try and answer fundamental questions about the nature of the sun and develop an understanding of how the sun works – such as why is the solar corona so hot. Its much hotter than the suns surface.

Scientists also want to know why the solar wind is accelerated to supersonic speeds. 

The mission will conduct 7 Venus flyby’s to set up 24 perihelion close encounters with the sun through 2024. The Venus flyby’s will precisely set its trajectory toward the Sun and slow the probe down instead of speeding it up. 

The $1.5 Billion mission began with a dazzling middle-of-the-night blastoff of the mighty Delta IV Heavy rocket in the wee hours of the morning, Aug. 12 – and delivered the car sized spacecraft to its intended trajectory towards Venus and the Sun.

The 23-story tall triple barreled United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket successfully launched at 3:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 12 from the Florida Space Coast and put on a brilliant display of fire power with 2.1 million pounds of thrust spewing forth from the trio of liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen RS-68A main engines that quickly turned night into day a few hours before the natural sunrise under nearly cloud-free skies.

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun and dive into the corona, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. From camera at pad. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area
..……….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming talks:

Apr 3: “Exploring Mars; The Search for Life & A Journey in 3-D.”  7 PM, Lawton C Johnson Middle School, Summit, NJ. Open to the public. Details upcoming. Latest results from Mars & Ultima Thule

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Snaps Amazing Red Planet Selfie During US Government Shutdown on the Blue Planet

A selfie taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Sol 2291 (January 15, 2019) at the "Rock Hall" drill site, located on Vera Rubin Ridge.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Ken Kremer  --SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –29 January 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA’s Curiosity rover has snapped an amazing ‘selfie’ of herself this month on the Red Planet – even as the US Government was shut down back here on the Blue Planet.

Thankfully the utterly nonsensical partial government shutdown ended yesterday – thereby allowing all NASA workers and others effected to get back to work.

The newly released selfie was taken at the ‘Rock Hall” drill site as a farewell salute to Vera Rubin Ridge where the 6 wheeled robot has been diligently exploring for signs of life for more than a year. 

Curiosity has now departed Vera Rubin Ridge and begun the trek to a region scientists  believe holds deposits of clay bearing minerals.

“NASA's Curiosity rover has taken its last selfie on Vera Rubin Ridge and descended toward a clay region of Mount Sharp,” NASA announced Jan 28.

“The twisting ridge on Mars has been the rover's home for more than a year, providing scientists with new samples — and new questions — to puzzle over.”

NASA’s Curiosity rover departs Vera Rubin Ridge and head towards the next exploration site called the Clay Bearing Unit - seen in this mosaic of images from the navigation camera. This navcam camera mosaic was stitched from raw images taken on Sol 2298, Jan. 23, 2019 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Marco Di Lorenzo Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

The selfie is comprised on 57 images taken on Sol 2291, Jan. 15, by the robots Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera located on the terminus of her seven foot long robotic arm, that were then stitched together into a panoramic mosaic by the team.

The scene includes the “Rock Hall” drill hole where she drilled for the 19^th time into the Red Planet rocks.  

The "Rock Hall" drill hole is visible to the lower left of the rover.  NASA says the scene is dustier than usual at this time of year due to a regional dust storm kicking up some dust.

NASA’s Curiosity rover raised robotic arm with drill pointed skyward while exploring Vera Rubin Ridge – backdropped by the base of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater. This navcam camera mosaic was stitched from raw images taken on Sol 1912, Dec. 22, 2017 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo

Having concluded her research at Vera Rubin Ridge, the SUV sized robot is now “headed into what the team calls the "clay-bearing unit," which sits in a trough just south of the ridge. Clay minerals in this unit may hold more clues about the ancient lakes that helped form the lower levels on Mount Sharp.”

Curiosity rover investigates a huge variety of past environments preserved within Gale Crater along Vera Rubin Ridge while celebrating 2000 Sols of exploration on the Red Planet. Rover deck is backdropped by Mount Sharp in this navcam camera mosaic stitched from raw images taken on Sol 2003, Mar. 26, 2018 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Marco Di Lorenzo Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

Curiosity is currently exploring the lower sedimentary layers of Mount Sharp which tower over 3 miles (5.5 km) into the Martian sky and found that it supported a habitable zone billions of years ago. 

As of today, Sol 2304, Jan 29, 2019 Curiosity has driven over 12.46 miles (20.05 kilometers) since its August 2012 landing inside Gale Crater from the landing site to Mount Sharp and taken over 548,100 amazing images. 

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area.

.……….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming talks:

Apr 3: “Exploring Mars; The Search for Life & A Journey in 3-D.”  7 PM, Lawton C Johnson Middle School, Summit, NJ. Open to the public. Details upcoming. Latest results from Mars & Ultima Thule

Opportunity Rover Marks 15 Years on Mars as NASA Implements New Contact Strategy after Dust Storm Silence

This pre-dust storm panoramic mosaic view was one of the last ones taken by NASA’s Opportunity rover and shows the spectacular view from her approximate current position as of June 2018 after traveling halfway down the fluid carved slope of Perseverance Valley - while peering into the interior of vast Endeavour Crater.  This navcam camera photo mosaic was assembled by Ken Kremer and Marco Di Lorenzo from raw images taken on Sol 5074  (3 May 2018) and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo

Ken Kremer  --SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –25 January 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA’s world famous Opportunity Rover today marks 15 Years since a breathtaking touchdown on Mars on Jan. 24, 2004 while conducting a resoundingly successful scientific foray on the alien Red Planets surface on a stunning overland trek encompassing more than 28 miles (45 kilometers) across a region called Meridiani Planum. 

Yet today, her fate is unknown – having been silenced by a historic global dust storm that has cut off all communications for over seven months with the celebrated but aged solar powered rover.

Thus NASA announced today that engineers are implementing a new strategy in hopes of making renewed contact.

“The team is continuing to listen for the rover over a broad range of times, frequencies and polarizations using the Deep Space Network (DSN) Radio Science Receiver,” said NASA.

To date more than 600 recovery commands have been sent!

A revised communications strategy is urgently needed because the rover is heading into southern hemisphere winter on Mars with decreased solar power generation possibilities and exiting the summertime season that simultaneously helped cause the dust storm while offering the best hope for generating solar power.

This set of images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows a fierce dust storm kicking up on Mars in June 2018, with NASA’s Opportunity and Curiosity rovers on the surface indicated as icons.  Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The six wheeled robot has operated far beyond the wildest expectations of the science and engineering team on a mission only warrantied to last a mere 90 sols, or 3 months since sending her first signal back to Earth from the surface on Jan. 24 at 9:05 p.m. PST (Jan. 25, 2004, at 12:05 a.m. EST).

Opportunity remains “still silent” as of today, sadly. 

The last communication from Opportunity with Earth was received June 10, 2018 (Sol 5111).

"Fifteen years on the surface of Mars is testament not only to a magnificent machine of exploration but the dedicated and talented team behind it that has allowed us to expand our discovery space of the Red Planet," said John Callas, project manager for Opportunity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in a Jan. 24 statement. 

"However, this anniversary cannot help but be a little bittersweet as at present we don't know the rover's status. We are doing everything in our power to communicate with Opportunity, but as time goes on, the probability of a successful contact with the rover continues to diminish."

Opportunity rover looks south from the top of Perseverance Valley along the rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars in this partial self portrait including the rover deck and solar panels. Perseverance Valley descends from the right and terminates down near the crater floor. This navcam camera photo mosaic was assembled from raw images taken on Sol 4736 (20 May 2017) and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

When the massive planet-encircling dust storm hit Opportunity had been descending down and exploring Perseverance Valley located along the eroded western rim of the gigantic 22-km diameter (14 mi) impact crater named Endeavour. 

NASA’s Opportunity rover acquired this Martian panoramic view from a promontory that overlooks Perseverance Valley below – scanning from north to south. It is centered on due East and into the interior of Endeavour crater. Perseverance Valley descends from the right and terminates down near the crater floor in the center of the panorama. The far rim of Endeavour crater is seen in the distance, beyond the dark floor. Rover deck and wheel tracks at right. This navcam camera photo mosaic was assembled from raw images taken on Sol 4730 (14 May 2017) and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo

The global Martian dust storm that gradually encircled the Red Planet started in late May whipping up dust that blocked Opportunity’s solar arrays from generating power and charging the life-giving batteries - thereby cutting off all communications with Earth from the essentially dead robot.

Meanwhile the dust finally began to subside in September when NASA began an active listening campaign initially scheduled to last 45 days and known as ‘sweep and beep’.  NASA then extended the sweep and beep campaign while giving “top priority’ to ensuring a successful touchdown for NASA new “InSight” over the Thanksgiving 2018 holiday.

Historic 1st descent down Martian gully. Panoramic view looking down Perseverance Valley after entry at top was acquired by NASA’s Opportunity rover scanning from north to south. It shows numerous wheel tracks at left, center and right as rover conducted walkabout tour prior to starting historic first decent down a Martian gully – possibly carved by water – and looks into the interior of Endeavour crater. Perseverance Valley terminates down near the crater floor in the center of the panorama. The far rim of Endeavour crater is seen in the distance, beyond the dark floor. Rover mast shadow at center and deck at left. This navcam camera photo mosaic was assembled by Ken Kremer and Marco Di Lorenzo from raw images taken on Sol 4780 (5 July 2017) and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo

NASA keep listening for signals because a potentially favorable “windy period on Mars -- known to Opportunity's team as "dust-clearing season" -- occurs in the November-to-January time frame and has helped clean the rover's panels in the past.”

Furthermore Opportunity’s current health is unknown as is the amount of accumulated dust on the solar panels. 

The team has been listening and send signals regularly and multiple times per day - a  process known as ‘sweep and beep’ - hoping the six wheeled robot will wake up. 

Two 2001 images from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter show a dramatic change in the planet's appearance when haze raised by dust-storm activity in the south became globally distributed. The images were taken about a month apart. Credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The team lost contact with Opportunity after “a planet-wide dust storm blanketed the solar-powered rover's location on the western rim of Perseverance Valley, eventually blocking out so much sunlight that the rover could no longer charge its batteries. Although the storm eventually abated and the skies over Perseverance cleared, the rover has not communicated with Earth since then. However, Opportunity's mission continues, in a phase where mission engineers at JPL are sending commands to as well as listening for signals from the rover. If engineers hear from the rover, they could attempt a recovery,” according to NASA officials.

But now the weather situation is changing on Mars and becoming potentially dire as wintertime encroaches on southern hemisphere of the Red Planet where Opportunity is located. 

That means less sun and lower temperatures -both of which could kill off any chance for reviving Opportunity. 

“Time is of the essence for the Opportunity team,” the team said in a new statement released Jan. 25. 

“The "dust-clearing season" - the time of year on Mars when increased winds could clear the rover's solar panels of dust that might be preventing it from charging its batteries - is drawing to a close. Meanwhile, Mars is heading into southern winter, which brings with it extremely low temperatures that are likely to cause irreparable harm to an unpowered rover's batteries, internal wiring and/or computer systems.” 

Thus the question is can she rise from the dead like Lazarus and ‘phone home’ in the new few weeks? Or is she permanently silenced?

No one knows.

“Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have begun transmitting a new set of commands to the Opportunity rover in an attempt to compel the 15-year-old Martian explorer to contact Earth. The new commands, which will be beamed to the rover during the next several weeks, address low-likelihood events that could have occurred aboard Opportunity, preventing it from transmitting.” 

Thus the team will continue active efforts to contact Opportunity for the foreseeable future, until such time as they need or seek further guidance from NASA and JPL management.

Keep your fingers crossed!

As of Jan 24, 2019 long lived Opportunity has survived or experienced over 5300 Sols (or Martian days) roving the harsh environment of the Red Planet. 

Opportunity has taken over 228,771 images and traversed over 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers) - more than a marathon. 

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area.

………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming talks:

Apr 3:  “Exploring Mars; The Search for Life & A Journey in 3-D.”  7 PM, Lawton C Johnson Middle School, Summit, NJ. Open to the public. Details upcoming. Latest results from Mars & Ultima Thule

15 Year Traverse Map for NASA’s Opportunity rover from 2004 to 2019. This map shows the entire 45-kilometer (28 mi) path the rover has driven on the Red Planet during over 15 Earth years (7.8 Mars years) and more than a marathon runners distance for over 5300 Sols, or Martian days, since landing inside Eagle Crater on Jan 24, 2004 – to current location at Perseverance Valley at the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover reached Perseverance Valley in May 2017 and descended about halfway by June 2018.  Its likely a water carved Martian gully. Opportunity surpassed Marathon distance on Sol 3968 after reaching 11th Martian anniversary on Sol 3911. Opportunity discovered clay minerals at Esperance – indicative of a habitable zone – and searched for more at Marathon Valley. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

Ken Kremer/Space UpClose posing with full scale model of NASA’s Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Florida

NASA’s New Horizons Transmits Sharpest View Yet of Ultima Thule

This image, taken during the historic Jan. 1, 2019 flyby of Ultima Thule  is the clearest view yet of this remarkable, ancient object in the far reaches of the solar system – and the first small KBO ever explored by a spacecraft.  The image was taken when the KBO was 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers) from the spacecraft at 12:26 a.m. EST on Jan. 1 – just seven minutes before closest approach. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Ken Kremer  --SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –25 January 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Scientists are gleeful as NASA’s New Horizons probe has transmitted back her sharpest view yet of distant Ultima Thule lurking more than 4 billion miles (6.6 billion km) from Earth in the far reaches of the Kuiper Belt following the stunning success of the New Years Day flyby.

Ultima Thule – which means ‘beyond the known world’ - ranks as the furthest and coldest object ever explored – a magnificently preserved bi-lobal fossil body formed during the birth of the solar system that looks remarkably like a ‘snowman.  

The newly released image was captured when New Horizons was merely 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers) distant from the Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) at 12:26 a.m. EST (05:26 UT) on Jan. 1, 2019  – just seven minutes before closest approach. 

The image brings Ultima Thule into truly sharp focus for the first time revealing surface features including a number pits and depressions that certainly resemble craters ranging in size from small to large as well as the one giant pit located on the smaller of the two lobes.

“The wonders – and mysteries – of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 continue to multiply as NASA's New Horizons spacecraft beams home new images of its New Year's Day 2019 flyby target,” according to the mission team in a statement releasing the new image on Jan. 24.

The new image was taken by the wide-angle Multicolor Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) component of New Horizons' Ralph instrument with a resolution of 440 feet (135 meters) per pixel and stored in the on-board memory. It was beamed back on Jan. 18-19 to eagerly waiting scientists. 

The precious best image was taken by the LORRI imager from approximately 17,000 miles (27,000 kilometers) with a resolution of 0.08 miles (0.14 kilometers) per pixel as New Horizons was approaching at a velocity of 32,000 mph (9 miles per second) – taken about 30 minutes prior to closest approach. It was released at the Jan. 2 press briefing. 

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. The science team unveiled this image at the Jan 2, media briefing at JHU APL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

"This new image is starting to reveal differences in the geologic character of the two lobes of Ultima Thule, and is presenting us with new mysteries as well," said Principal Investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, in a statement. 

"Over the next month there will be better color and better resolution images that we hope will help unravel the many mysteries of Ultima Thule."

On New Year’s Day 2019 at 12:33 a.m. EST the New Horizons spacecraft flew past Ultima Thule within a distance of merely 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) while approaching at a velocity of 32,000 mph (9 miles per second).  

“The object consists of two similarly red, similarly reflective lobes measuring approximately 14 and 19 km across, respectively. Their similar nature points to their individual accretion in a swarm of like objects, followed by a gentle merger. Nothing like this has ever been seen up close and personal before,” Stern wrote in an invited abstract for the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference upcoming in Houston this March.

Watch this recently released rotation movie showing the propeller-like rotation of Ultima Thule in the seven hours between 20:00 UT (3 p.m. ET) on Dec. 31, 2018, and 05:01 UT (12:01 a.m.) on Jan. 1, 2019, as seen by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA's New Horizons as the spacecraft sped toward its close encounter with the Kuiper Belt object at 05:33 UT (12:33 a.m. ET) on Jan. 1.

This movie shows propeller-like rotation of Ultima Thule in the seven hours between 20:00 UT (3 p.m. ET) on Dec. 31, 2018, and 05:01 UT (12:01 a.m.) on Jan. 1, 2019, as seen by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA's New Horizons as the spacecraft sped toward its close encounter with the Kuiper Belt object at 05:33 UT (12:33 a.m. ET) on Jan. 1, 2019. Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Ultima Thule has a rotation period of about 16 hours. 

The baby grand piano shaped probe gathered about 50 GB of data including imagery, spectroscopy and research measurements using its 7 on board science instruments. It will take about 20 months for all the data to be beamed back to Earth.

Here is a detailed description of the new MVIC image:

The oblique lighting of this image reveals new topographic details along the day/night boundary, or terminator, near the top. These details include numerous small pits up to about 0.4 miles (0.7 kilometers) in diameter. The large circular feature, about 4 miles (7 kilometers) across, on the smaller of the two lobes, also appears to be a deep depression. Not clear is whether these pits are impact craters or features resulting from other processes, such as "collapse pits" or the ancient venting of volatile materials.

Both lobes also show many intriguing light and dark patterns of unknown origin, which may reveal clues about how this body was assembled during the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. One of the most striking of these is the bright "collar" separating the two lobes.

Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

“Ultima Thule” is an unchanged fossil remnant and planetesimal formed during the dawn of our solar system some 4.5 Billion Years ago.

Planetesimals are the tiny building blocks from which much larger structures like moons and planets are born by accretion of hordes of bits of matter over time.    

The bi-lobal rock is shaped remarkably like a ‘snowman’ and consists of two connected balls roughly spherical in appearance. 

The new world measures 19 miles (31 kilometers) in length. The team has unofficially nicknamed the larger sphere "Ultima" (12 miles/19 kilometers across) and the smaller sphere "Thule" (9 miles/14 kilometers across).

At the moment New Horizons is approximately 4.13 billion miles (6.64 billion kilometers) from Earth, operating normally and speeding away from the Sun (and Ultima Thule) at more than 31,500 miles (50,700 kilometers) per hour. At that distance, a radio signal reaches Earth six hours and nine minutes after leaving the spacecraft.

New Horizons full trajectory and current location.  Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Watch for Ken’s continuing coverage of New Horizons and prior reporting direct from JHU APL.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist, journalist and photographer based in the KSC area.

………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events