New Horizons Spots A Spinning ‘Snowman’ Out In Space
12:15 minutes
The most happening New Year’s Party of 2019 wasn’t at Times Square or Paris—it was in the small town of Laurel, Maryland, halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. There, scientists shared the stage with kids decked out in NASA gear, party hats, and astronaut helmets. They were there to count down not to the new year, but to the New Horizons spacecraft flying by a very distant, very ancient, snowman-shaped object: MU69.
Now, the first haul of data about that mysterious object has returned. They reveal that MU69 is one of the reddest objects we’ve explored in the solar system, built from two skipping-stone-shaped bodies, each the size of small cities. Those details are featured in a cover story in the journal Science. Kelsi Singer, deputy project scientist for NASA’s New Horizons mission, joins Ira to talk about it.
Further Reading:
- Read the full study with the initial results from the New Horizons exploration of MU69.
Segment Guests
Kelsi Singer
Kelsi Singer is Deputy Project Scientist for NASA’s New Horizons mission.
Meet the Producers and Host
About Christopher Intagliata
@cintagliataChristopher Intagliata was Science Friday’s senior producer. He once served as a prop in an optical illusion and speaks passable Ira Flatowese.
About Ira Flatow
@iraflatowIra Flatow is the host and executive producer of Science Friday. His green thumb has revived many an office plant at death’s door.