April 20, 2021
On April 17, 2021, the New Horizons spacecraft passed 50 astronomical units – 50 times Earth’s distance from the sun – while speeding toward interstellar space. It also captured an image of another earthly spacecraft, even farther out.
View larger. | This diagram illustrates the 5 missions that have gone farther than 50 astronomical units (AU) from the sun. An AU is about the distance between the Earth and sun. New Horizons reached this milestone on April 17, 2021, after exploring Pluto and another distant object, called Arrokoth. Image via NASA/ Johns Hopkins APL/ Southwest Research Institute.
Only four spacecraft have journeyed as far into space as 50 astronomical units (AU), or 50 times Earth’s distance from the sun. On April 17, 2021, New Horizons became the 5th human-made object to reach this rare space milestone. The spacecraft broke the 50 AU mark on its trek out of the solar system, nearly six years after its successful sweep past Pluto in July, 2015
New Horizons Reaches a Rare Space Milestone
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Did A Comet Fragment Kill The Dinosaurs? Not Likely, Say Researchers
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Harvard Professor Disputes Theory Behind Origin of Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid
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It is currently assumed in the scientific community that the Chicxulub impactor – the one that left a nearly 81-kilometre deep hole off the Mexican coast and killed the Mesozoic era s most famous reptiles – was a part of an asteroid that came from the belt between Mars and Jupiter. Not everyone agrees.
A new study put forward a fresh theory behind the origin of a devastating rock that hit the Earth more than 66 million years ago, wiping out most of the living creatures, including the dinosaurs.
According to Harvard Professor Avi Loeb and astrophysics pundit Amir Siraj, who co-authored the paper, the catastrophic object – known as the Chicxulub impactor – could have come from much further away than initially suggested by scientists. Precisely, from the Oort cloud locat