Ultima Thule Flyby
The New Horizons spacecraft successfully completed its flyby of Ultima Thule (2014 MU69) at 12:33am on January 1, 2019. So far there has not been a lot of information released due to the slow (but steady) retrieval of data from the spacecraft, but the initial images are amazing:
I have been following the New Horizons mission since its launch in January 2006, and it’s encounter with Pluto on July 14, 2015. I think it is incredible that it has accomplished everything that it has so far, and that it is able to send back images and scientific information from over 6 billion km away.
It is going to be an interesting year for space exploration and space launches in 2019, and I am very excited for all of it.