On the Smallest and Farthest Worlds Explored by NASA

"In recent months, NASA has explored the smallest object ever orbited and the most distant body ever encountered - and found that both worlds are weirder than anyone could have imagined.
The 800-foot-wide asteroid Bennu, which is currently being studied by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, produces strange plumes of dust particles. Principal investigator Dante Lauretta, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, called the discovery 'one of the biggest surprises of my scientific career.'

"Meanwhile, data collected during the New Horizons spacecraft's New Years Day flight past a far-flung icy object called MU69 suggests that the body is weirdly flat. Planetary scientist William McKinnon, a co-investigator on the mission, compared the two-part body to 'a meatball attached to a pancake.'

"The strange findings from both missions were presented this week at the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference outside Houston, raising questions and offering clues about how the solar system works."

A recent Washington Post article reported on the discoveries made by these two space missions.

To access the complete Washington Post report, please visit:

The Washington Post: The smallest and farthest worlds ever explored by NASA are really, really weird (20 MAR 19)