New Horizons
Ultima Thule
Space Exploration Merit Badge Supplementals
(created Thr., Feb. 21, 2019; updated Good Friday April 19, 2019; further updates still needed)
This is an extension of
the Space Exploration Merit Badge page.
Ultima Thule
now renamed
Arrakoth
image source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/486958_Arrokoth
NASA’s New Horizons Mission was the first to visit Pluto, on its July 14, 2015 flyby.
New Horizons has since visited the dwarf planet Ultima Thule, on December 31, 2018.
This page provides insights into what we learned about Ultima Thule.
The information on this page is NOT required for the Space Exploration Merit Badge.
The information on this page is shared to provide additional insights into the exploration of Pluto and to encourage enthusiasm about all that is exciting about the exploring the universe beyond our planet, in person and through unmanned spacecraft.
MORE COMING SOON...
5. New Horizons, Pluto images, and facts
PLUTO
♇
image source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html
After a nine-year journey, which started with the fastest-ever departure from Earth’s orbit - 34,500 mph / miles per hour, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto on July 14, 2015.
NASA’s New Horizons page has an amazing wealth of information about our discoveries of the only American-discovered planet / dwarf planet / planetoid / plutoid.
Source: http://www.astronomy.com/magazine/2019/07/ultima-thule-revealed
image source: http://cdn.images.dailystar.co.uk/dynamic/122/photos/207000/900x738/261207.jpg
New Horizons...
Also the name of our Boy Scouts of America - Greater St. Louis Area Council District - the New Horizons District!
These are all of the links to the Astronomy Merit Badge pages:
Astronomy Merit Badge - Extra “Fun Facts”
Astronomy - Great American Eclipse
Astronomy - Great American Eclipse 2017
These are all of the links to the Space Exploration Merit Badge pages:
New Horizons - Mission Overview
New Horizons - Pluto Resources
All images were scanned directly from the magazine using the Halo Scanner Mouse - http://shop.halo2cloud.com/collections/computer-and-backup/products/scanner-mouse, which I received as a Christmas present from my mother in 2013.
Regardless your desire to pursue a career in space exploration, it is hoped that you learned enough about exploring space through this merit badge to at least be interested to continuously look up at the sky in awe and wonder, and think about what you may want to explore if you were to go “out there” or were to send a probe “out there.”
If you pursue with enthusiastic interest, that’s great. If you do make a career in the field, GREAT.
May all be better off having completed your Space Exploration Merit Badge than you were before you started.
