New Horizons gears up for its close encounter with Ultima Thule
The Kuiper Belt object, about 6.5 billion kilometers from the sun, will get its first visitor
![illustration of Ultima Thule](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/121418_lg_ultima-thule_feat.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is about to get even closer to Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule (illustrated) than the craft was to Pluto three years ago.
SwRI, JHUAPL, Steve Gribben/NASA