NASA's New Horizons Spacecraft Is Heading For 'Summer Trip' To 2014 MU69

NASA's New horizons spacecraft is shooting away from Pluto right to the edge of the solar system, as NASA is targeting another observation point. The spacecraft is likely to have traversed a billion miles past Pluto's remote orbit.

On this summer, 2014 MU69 might get visited by the spacecraft in an extended mission. The relic may be preserved from the planets of 4.6 billion years ago, believe astronomers.

Outside our eight known planets, there is a huge collection of rocks and chunks of ice, called the Kuiper Belt, following another orbit.

Since it was formed, MU69 has not changed much and is orbiting gradually in the depths of the solar system. Other massive Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), such as Pluto and Eris, have had their orbits changed because of Neptune's gravitational effect. Bodies such as MU69 are called "cold classical objects," without approaching any other mass.

"The Kuiper Belt in general, and the cold classical objects especially are the most primordial objects. They were never pushed around by the giant planets; they're pretty much where they formed and haven't been disturbed except for occasionally bumping into each other," said Simon Porter, an expert who is part of the New Horizons mission.

MU69 is too small to be seen on earth, as it is just 20 to 30 miles across. Almost three in every 10 cold classical objects are orbited by at least one satellite, hence, this frigid planet too may have one.

There is no spacecraft from Earth that has ever approached a cold classical object. Astronomers hope that the mission can give an insight into the formation of our solar system. Even before New Horizon visits MU69, the planners will require funding.

New Horizons took off in 2006 for landing Pluto, when it was still called a planet, the last one that had never been visited by a spacecraft. On July 14, 2015, the NASA observatory made the first-ever flyby of Pluto, after which it is mission Kuiper Belt.