By New Horizons Target Object 2014 MU69 now Ultima Thule
Pluto and Neptune
July 2014 was one of the most exciting times of my life when it comes to current explorations of space. When New Horizons flew by Pluto, I could follow the whole flyby on my mobile and PC screen.
I hadn’t been that excited about space since August 1989, when Voyager 2 made its flyby past Neptune. I sat in a little room in the Power House Museum, watching the regularly updated image of the planet appearing line by line on a projection screen. It was a great 18th birthday present, and gave me such excitement and hope for the human race.
NASA has hundreds of projects on the go, and it’s impossible to follow them all, but I do make a point of checking up on New Horizons. And now, with news that it has successfully awakened from its hibernation, to check out a kuiper belt object, I’m excited all over again.
Ultima Thule?
What will Ultima Thule look like? What will we discover?
If I could just click my fingers (in a space suit?) and teleport there, I’d do it. I’d be jumping about the whole Solar System having a close look at everything, light permitting.
While New Horizons won’t get to its latest flyby until late 2018 / early 2019, we’re sure to get a few grainy images of Ultima Thule before then.
The big question is, why Ultima Thule? The name was chosen in March 2018 and I’m curious to know why, especially as this is Latin and was used to mean ‘beyond the known world’ or ‘Greenland’ or sometimes ‘Iceland’. But we know there’s an Oort cloud so it’s not beyond the known world so much, so I suspect it could be a science fiction reference.
Is it a reference to the Doctor Who Stage Play – The Ultimate Adventure?
Is it a reference to Star Trek Deep Space Nine (DS9) ?
😛
Ultima Thule Products
As Ultima Thule has such a cool ring to it, there have been numerous products released over the years with that name.
It’s probably not named after the 100+ year old glassware by Litallia Ultima Thule Glasses
Also, probably not named after a volume in the series by Chris Lowry Ultima Thule Earth Invasion
Tangerine Dreams 2016Â Ultima Thule Album has some nice tracks that are ideal to listen to as New Horizons gets closer, as does Ostara’s Ultima Thule album from 2008, though probably not those either. Actually, I’ve just found another 10 albums called Ultima Thule so I think I best stop looking.
But I think the Young Poets collection Ultima Thule by Davis McCombs that came out in 2000 could probably come close to qualifying, especially with the chance that Ultima Thule will be full of caves or holes or some other mysterious areas.
Of course, Ultima Thule in Oklahoma, USA could also be a contender. It doesn’t look like there’s much there! (Please correct me. I can’t find anything online about anything there!)
What do you think?
In any case, I’ll be watching with bated breath as 2014 MU69 aka Ultima Thule draws closer.
Exciting times!