New Horizons Space Probe Gets Mission Extension

New Horizons Space Probe Gets Mission Extension

The U.S. space agency has announced it is extending the mission of the New Horizons spacecraft.

New Horizons is a spacecraft without a human crew. It was the first spacecraft to visit the dwarf¹ planet Pluto². It gathered pictures and information about the dwarf planet. New Horizons flew close to Pluto in July of 2015.

The spacecraft will be heading further into what is known as the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is an area beyond the planets where there are asteroids⁴ and comets.

New Horizons will visit an “ancient object” called 2014 MU69.

The spacecraft is expected to reach the object on January 1, 2019. NASA says the 2014 MU69 is more than one and a half billion kilometers beyond the orbit of Pluto.

NASA calls 2014 MU69 “one of the early building blocks of the solar system”.

Jim Green is NASA’s director of Planetary Science. He said, “The New Horizons mission to Pluto exceeded our expectations.” He added that NASA is looking forward to continuing explorations with the spacecraft.

“We’re excited to continue onward⁵ into the dark depths of the outer solar system,” he said.

Green said scientists did not know about 2014 MU69 when New Horizons was launched. New Horizons left Earth in January of 2006.

NASA also said it was keeping the Dawn spacecraft in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. Ceres is much closer to Earth. It orbits the Sun between the planets Mars and Jupiter.

Green said Dawn will continue to observe Ceres in an effort to make more discoveries.

Dawn was launched in September of 2007.

Words in This Story

mission – n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task

spacecraft – n. a vehicle that is used for travel in outer space

dwarf planet – n. a body that looks like a small planet but lacks certain requirements allowing it to be called a planet

asteroid³ – n. any one of thousands of small planets that orbit the sun

comet – n. an icy object in outer space that can develop a long, bright tail made of dust when it passes near the sun

1 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

2 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

3 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

4 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

5 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。