A Journey Into the Solar System's Outer Reaches, Seeking New Worlds To Explore (nytimes.com)

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will visit a tiny and mysterious object in the Kuiper belt on Tuesday, seeking clues to the formation of our cosmic neighborhood. From a report: In June 1983, newspaper headlines declared that NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft had left the solar system, crossing beyond the orbit of Neptune. It was the common view of the time: All of the solar system's big, interesting things -- the sun and the nine planets -- were behind Pioneer 10. Thirty-five years later, the Kuiper belt -- the region Pioneer 10 was just entering -- and the spaces beyond are perhaps the most fascinating parts of the solar system. In their vast, icy reaches are clues about how the sun and planets, including ours, coalesced out of gas and dust 4.5 billion years ago. Even farther out might be bodies the size of Mars or Earth, or even a larger one some astronomers call Planet Nine, and technological advances could usher in a new age of planetary discovery.

On Tuesday, New Horizons, the NASA spacecraft that snapped spectacular photographs of Pluto in 2015, will provide humanity with a close-up of one of these mysterious, distant and tiny icy worlds. Its target of exploration is believed to be just 12 to 22 miles wide, known as 2014 MU69 -- its designation in the International Astronomical Union's catalog of worlds -- or Ultima Thule, the nickname bestowed upon it by the New Horizons team. This will be the farthest object ever visited by a spacecraft. New Horizons will speed past Ultima Thule at 31,500 miles per hour and pass within 2,200 miles of the surface. What the probe finds could reveal much about the earliest days of the solar system and what else lies in the Kuiper belt.

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Something not mentioned

[quonset]

Because the con artist shut down the government, or at least part of it, only essential personnel at NASA will be on duty when the flyby happens.

"During the Shutdown Furlough, you will be in a nonpay, nonduty status. During this time, you will not be permitted to serve NASA as an unpaid volunteer. You must remain away from your worksite, and may not work at home, in another location, or participate in events hosted by non-NASA entities in your official capacity like speeches or speakers bureau engagements, unless and until recalled."

This also affects another NASA flyby the same day:

The shutdown also means NASA has had to turn to another contractor lab, the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson, to document when another space agency probe, OSIRIS-REx, goes into orbit around the asteroid Bennu, another milestone scheduled for New Year's Eve. NASA TV will similarly cover those announcements, according to Bridenstine.

Someone I know from another site has a niece whose husband works at NASA and is a big supporter of the con artist. He's taking a little bit of pleasure knowing the guy won't be around for the momentous occasion and won't get to see it until afterwards. Nor is he getting paid and won't get a pay raise next year.