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[–] kun [S] 0 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago 

Beyond Pluto: Kuiper Belt Possibilities

New Horizons has the capability to fly beyond the Pluto system and explore additional Kuiper Belt Objects. New Horizons carries extra hydrazine fuel for a KBO flyby; its communications system is designed to work from far beyond Pluto and its scientific instruments can work in light levels even lower than the dim sunlight at Pluto.

So the New Horizons team had to undertake a dedicated search for small KBOs the spacecraft could reach. In the early 2000s, no such KBOs had even been discovered. The National Academy of Sciences directed New Horizons to fly by small KBOs about 20 to 50 kilometers (about 12 to 30 miles) across, which are more likely to be primitive bodies, less well-formed than planets like Pluto.