WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- NASA's New Horizons probe is expected to reach Pluto by the middle of next year, but it may not stop there. The spacecraft was sent to Pluto so NASA could do studies on the dwarf planet and natural satellites that orbit it, but recent images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope show objects that could be close enough for the probe to examine them from near Pluto. The probe passed Neptune in August.

NASA is still deciding how viable the extra mission would be and how they could benefit from spending extra time and money doing it.

"The planned search for a suitable target for New Horizons further demonstrates how Hubble is effectively being used to support humankind's initial reconnaissance of the solar system," Matt Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, said in July. They will continue to observe nearby objects to determine the future of the New Horizons mission.

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NASA could use New Horizons probe to look for distant objects past Pluto