The Encore To NASA’s Unveiling Of Pluto — The Kuiper Belt To Discover The Origins Of Our World

NASA is having an amazing month. The agency has introduced the world to Pluto and discovered an Earth-like planet, begging the question — what could possibly be next?

NASA has big plans for the New Horizons probe, which conducted its historic and much-publicized flyby of Pluto on July 14. Its instruments are fresh and it’s powered by a nuclear generator, which means it can keep flying well past Pluto and into the Kuiper Belt, Space.com reported.

And if you think NASA’s revelations about Pluto were amazing, what scientists may discover about the icy worlds beyond may top it. That’s because these mysterious worlds may hold the key to understanding the origins of our solar system.

“That encounter is potentially more valuable than the Pluto encounter,” Brett Gladman, of the University of British Columbia, told CBC News about a potential future NASA mission.

Right now, New Horizons is still hard at work, beaming back so much data to NASA that it’ll take scientists weeks to receive and years to study. Before NASA’s Pluto mission officially ends early next year, the probe will conduct three “departure phases,” and the probe will beam back data to Earth that will continue long after 2016.

Now beyond Pluto, New Horizons will turn its attention to the Kuiper Belt, where NASA has its eye on a couple of enigmatic bodies. Thousands of icy objects and a few dwarf planets call the belt home — among them Eris, Haumea, Makemake — but there’s also 50000 Quaoar and its moon; 90377 Sedna, which has an unusual orbit; and object, 2012 VP113, which has its own orbit, the International Business Times added.

But NASA is looking at two different objects (right now named 2014 MU69 and 2014 PN70, so hopefully they’ll be christened with something that rolls off the tongue more easily), which they’d like New Horizons to explore in 2019. They are both about a one million miles away from Pluto, and three billion miles from Earth, and are much smaller and altogether different from Pluto.

But NASA needs money for this mission. The agency only has enough to pay for the Pluto mission, so it needs Congress to get on board with more funds to keep exploring. NASA needs to pick one of those new worlds to study later in the year.

And Congress should shell out the cash — the Kuiper Belt holds many answers for scientists back on Earth, and if it can study the icy bodies there, NASA could figure out what ingredients it takes to build a planet and a solar system.

The coolest thing about the belt is the fact that its worlds have been untouched and unchanged since they were formed. That makes it very unlike Earth, which looks nothing like it did at creation thanks to volcanoes, collisions, and other events.

The Kuiper Belt gives NASA the opportunity to study an objects considered to be “primordial relic(s).” Scientists think the worlds inside the belt are the leftovers from the collapsing cloud that gave birth to our solar system, and still looks much the same as it did back then — 4.5 billion years ago.

Kuiper’s other smaller objects may also resemble the building blocks of other planets, which is important for NASA to study.

“We don’t know how to really build a planet,” said NASA’s director of planetary science.

So as the world is captivated by Pluto, her mountains, and her now-famous heart, more amazing discoveries may await earthlings in the next couple of years.

[Photo Courtesy Getty Images/NASA]