New Horizons Pluto Probe Heads Toward 2nd Flyby Target

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has begun chasing down another distant, icy object. New Horizons, which in July performed the first-ever flyby of Pluto, fired up its engines yesterday (Oct. 22) in the first of four maneuvers designed to send the probe zooming past a small object called 2014 MU69 on Jan. 1, 2019. The 16-minute engine burn changed New Horizons' trajectory by about 22.4 mph (36 km/h), mission officials said.