The decision to expand New Horizons’ mission to explore a potential object in the Kuiper Belt, and not just the Sun, comes as a great relief to scientists.
A famous NASA spacecraft will continue exploring the outer reaches of the solar system thanks to an extended lifeline. This decision overturns NASA’s earlier proposal to change the mission’s course and transfer it to a different division.
NASA has decided to extend its New Horizons mission until the spacecraft exits the Kuiper Belt, which is expected to take place as early as 2028, the space agency announced. The mission was originally scheduled to wrap up operations at the end of 2024.
During its bonus time in the frozen depths of the solar system, New Horizons will mainly focus on collecting heliophysics data (heliophysics is the study of the Sun and how it interacts with its surrounding environment). The spacecraft will observe the Sun in a low-power mode, but as a bonus, it will also search for an object in the Kuiper Belt to conduct a close flyby.
The decision was celebrated by the mission team, who challenged a proposal by NASA to transfer the mission from the space agency’s Planetary Science Division to the Heliophysics Division and focusing all of its efforts on the Sun.
