UPDATE:2014 MU69 is now officially namedArrokoth

In less than two weeks , humanity will explore a diminutive world at the edge of the Solar System . 2014 MU69 , or Ultima Thule , is a tiny Kuiper Belt Object ( KBO )   that will have a close face-off with NASA ’s New Horizons spacecraft on January 1 .

The team has now confirm that Ultima Thule has n’t got a moon , rings , or other endangerment . In mental image take in between August and now , they did n’t see any moons larger than 3 km ( 2 miles ) across or any dusty pack , not even those that speculate just five 10 - millionth of the sunshine they get . Given these observation , they determine to keep the ballistic capsule on its primary and closest trajectory . New Horizons will pilot just 3,500 kilometer ( 2,200 miles ) from the small earthly concern .   The space vehicle is moving at 50,700 kilometre ( 31,500 miles ) per hour so even a minuscule grain of meth or debris could conduce to dangerous legal injury .

" Our team feel like we have been ride along with the spacecraft , as if we were gob light on the gasconade ’s nest of a ship , see out for dangers before , " hazards team result Mark Showalter , of the SETI Institute , said in astatement . " The team was in complete consensus that the spacecraft should stay on the closer flight , and mission leadership follow our recommendation . "

New Horizons continues to be a investigation that set records . It was the first mission to Pluto when it wing by the nanus planet in 2015 , and it will now be the first one to keep an eye on a KBO . Ultima Thule is more or less 30 kilometers ( 19 mile ) in diam and New Horizons will pass over it at a distance three times closer than it was to Pluto . Images will have a resolution of between 30 and 70 meter ( 98 and 230 animal foot ) .

The spacecraft also performed its last trajectory chastisement burn and New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Sterntook to Twitterto country that it was “ spot on ” . human race ’s rendezvous with its first KBO is now mere days away .

" The ballistic capsule is now targeted for the optimal flyby , over three times closer than we flew to Pluto,“addedStern . " Ultima , here we add up ! "

New Horizons will make its historic closemouthed coming of Ultima Thule at 12.33am EST ( 5.33am GMT ) on January 1 , 2019 . have that the object is 6.4 billion kilometers ( 4 billion miles ) from us it will take roughly six hours   for us to receive ratification of a successful flyby .