Quaoar I Weywot), discovered in 2006 and named after the sky god Weywot, son of Quaoar. It is thought to be approximately in diameter. Exploration It was calculated that a flyby mission to Quaoar could take 13.57 years using a Jupiter gravity assist, based on launch dates of 25 December 2016, 22 November 2027, 22 December 2028, 22 January 2030 or 20 December 2040. Quaoar would be 41 to 43 AU from the Sun when the spacecraft arrives. In July 2016, the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard the New Horizons spacecraft took a sequence of four images of Quaoar from a distance of about 14 AU. Interstellar Probe, a concept by Pontus Brandt and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory would potentially fly by Quaoar in the 2030s before continuing to the interstellar medium, and the first of China National Space Administration's proposed Interstellar Express probe designed to explore the heliosphere has it considered as a potential flyby target. Quaoar has been chosen as a flyby target for missions like these particularly for its escaping methane atmosphere and possible cryovolcanism, as well as its close proximity to the heliospheric nose. Notes References External links Frequently Asked Questions About Quaoar Quaoar could have hit a bigger Pluto-sized body at high speeds (Video Credit: Craig Agnor, E. Asphaug) Chilly Quaoar had a warmer past – Nature.com article Quaoar: Planetoid Beyond Pluto – SPACE.com article by Elizabeth Howell Beyond Jupiter – (50000) Quaoar 050000 Discoveries by Michael E. Brown Discoveries by Chad Trujillo Named minor planets Dwarf planets Binary trans-Neptunian objects 050000 20020604