Pluto probe to be woken for voyage to the Third Zone

NASA is to wake up its New Horizons spacecraft next month following a five month hibernation, in preparation for a journey into one of the most mysterious regions of the Solar System.

New Horizons, which captured incredible images of Pluto in July 2015, was powered down in April to conserve energy as it travelled through the Kuiper Belt, a vast region of icy debris which encircles the Sun and planets, also known as The Third Zone.

On Sept 11, the spacecraft will awaken for its 16 month journey to MU69, an ancient object which is thought to be one of the early building blocks of the Solar System.

The space rock had not even been discovered when the craft launched in 2006 and the fly-by will be the most distant in the history of space exploration, a billion miles beyond Pluto, and four billion miles from Earth.

Recent observations of MU69 from the Hubble Space Telescope show it is probably two “binary” objects or a pair of space rocks “stuck-together”, bodies which are each around 12 miles across.

Alan Stern, principal investigator for New Horizons at Nasa, said: “We are very likely going to a primordial binary in the Kuiper Belt, a four-billion-yearold relic of Solar System formation and an exotic building block of the small planets of the Kuiper Belt like Pluto.

“New exploration awaits us. It promises a scientific bonanza for the fly-by.”

After studying objects in the Kuiper Belt, the spacecraft will eventually leave the Solar System, a feat only achieved by Voyager so far. otherapy might help. The married father of two claims his rugby-playing physiotherapist used “considerable force” when manipulating his neck. The practitioner, Will Cooper, who practises in Brackley and claims to employ a “hands on” approach, has a physiotherapy degree and is a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists.

The former facilities engineer is suing Mr Cooper for negligence. Mr Cooper and his lawyers declined to comment given impending legal proceedings.

Mr Davidson’s wife, Sandy, has left her job to care for him. A claim for damages, if successful, could come to millions of pounds.

The case has prompted warnings that patients should demand proof of their physiotherapist’s qualifications.

The Nasa space probe ‘New Horizons’ is depicted flying around Pluto with its moon Charon in the background. It is now being brought out of hibernation to voyage to MU69

RAF contractor Jason Davidson, with his wife Sandy, alleges he was left paralysed after neck manipulation