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Imagine sending out a $700m spacecraft only for it to send back a 21-mile galactic snowman 13 years later

Ultima Thule, more like ultimate fools!
I’m joking, this is actually pretty cool.
This is Ultima Thule, a 21-mile long rock 4.1 billion miles from Earth, the most distant object ever to be visited up close by humans.
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jim44444 · 70-79, M
The technology and science of this flyby is impressive. I do not know what the practical use of this information is or will be but it was basically free.
The original New Horizons mission was funded to take pictures of Pluto. It successfully did that and then the NASA scientists figured out a way to extend the mission by photographing this object. Kind of like a two for one special.