This composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left), was taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it passed through the Pluto system on July 14, 2015. This image highlights the striking differences between Pluto and Charon.NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
After making history by flying by Pluto in 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is speeding toward a New Year’s Day 2019 flyby of a mysterious world in the outer realm of the solar system. In this episode of Gravity Assist, Jim Green talks with New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern about what we’ve learned about Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 and the remarkable story of how — against all odds — the New Horizons team captured MU69’s fleeting shadow on Earth as the object passed in front of a distant star.
For the full podcast and transcript, visit https://www.nasa.gov/gravity-assist.
New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute and Jim Green, NASA’s director of planetary science.Image credit: NASA.