This evening, something very exciting is taking place in the world of astronomy and space science. The New Horizons spacecraft (the same spacecraft that took stunning photos of Pluto in 2015) will be flying by a faraway object in the Kuiper Belt, nicknamed Ultima Thule (TOO - lee) at 10:33 P.M. MST / 12:33 A.M. EST. Though much smaller than Pluto, Ultima Thule (considered a minor planet) has the science community abuzz because it is also the most distant object we have ever explored up close — 4 billion miles (6.5 billion km) from Earth!