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Fly close to Pluto in a detailed NASA tour
Alas, you're unlikely to soar over Pluto's alien landscape any time soon -- not when it's billions of miles away. However, NASA has whipped up an aerial tour that will give you an inkling of what it might be like. The simulated flyover (below) uses the New Horizons probe's latest high-res imagery to show off Pluto with an "unprecedented" level of detail of up to 0.25 miles per pixel). It's certainly not the same as being there, but it's not hard to imagine sitting in a spacecraft orbiting the dwarf planet. And don't worry if this doesn't meet your expectations. New Horizons will eventually send pictures that are up to seven times sharper, so you can expect more impressive virtual flights in the months ahead.
New Horizons offers a closer look at Pluto's desolate surface
When NASA's New Horizons spacecraft shot past Pluto, the agency released some stunning photos to celebrate the occasion. The last couple of months have been quiet, however, because the spacecraft has only been sending back data collected by its energetic particle, solar wind and space dust instruments. While this has led to some new discoveries, many of us have been itching to see a little more of the icy dwarf planet. Well, good news! NASA now has a fresh batch of photos for us to drool over. The most eye-catching one is a mosaic (above) that shows what the planet would look like if you were stood 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) above the equator. Looking north-east, you can see a cratered region called Cthulhu Regio and some icy plains named Sputnik Planum.
NASA's Pluto probe starts a year-long data upload
NASA's New Horizons probe didn't swing by Pluto just to snap a few photos and run off -- it collected a ton of extra data that hasn't seen the light of day. Well, it's finally sending that data back to Earth... very, very slowly. The spacecraft has started an upload of "tens of gigabits" of information that, at a pokey 1KB to 4KB per second transfer rate, won't finish until fall 2016. You'll get raw photos from New Horizons every Friday, but it could take a long while before astronomers know exactly what they have on their hands. It may be worth the wait, mind you. If NASA's initial burst of Pluto data was an eye-opener, you can imagine what a year's worth of info might bring.
NASA's Pluto probe is heading for the Kuiper belt
It's been over a month since the New Horizons spacecraft flew as near as possible to Pluto and took the closest photos of the dwarf planet we've ever seen. Now, NASA has decided on its next destination: a small Kuiper Belt object (KBO) called 2014 MU69. Since the probe was always meant to go beyond the once-ninth planet from the start, it was loaded with more fuel than needed and equipped with a communications system that works even in the Kuiper region. However, it still took a while for NASA to find an object near enough to explore. It was only when the Hubble telescope discovered KBOs in the probe's flight path in 2014 that the agency found the perfect target.
NASA's latest Pluto discoveries include hazy skies and flowing ice
Ready for another dose of Pluto news? Of course you are! During an event today, NASA shared its latest discoveries in regards to the icy dwarf planet. First, detailed imagery from New Horizon's Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) shows "geologic activity" on the surface that includes flowing ice on a plain known as Sputnik Planum. That area lies in the western part of that massive heart-shaped region you've likely noticed in photos. NASA says the ice there flowed, and may still be flowing now, in a way that resembles the movement of glaciers on Earth. In the southern portion of Sputnik Planum, researchers discovered a range of icy mountains that rise about a mile and can be compared to the Appalachian Mountains here in the States. In fact, the peaks have been informally named Hillary Montes and are located near another range named Norgay Montes. The names are in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay -- explorers who first reached the summit of Mount Everest in the 1950s.
Latest Pluto image shows a second, shorter icy mountain range
We're getting to know Pluto a lot better, thanks to the images released by the New Horizons mission. Take for example, this one captured during the probe's historic flyby on July 14th, which shows a second mountain range that's less lofty but just as icy as the first one we saw. It's located somewhere along the southwestern part of the dwarf planet's popular heart-shaped feature now known as the Tombaugh Regio and is estimated to be around as tall as the Appalachian Mountains at half a mile to a mile in height. That's approximately 2,640 to 5,280 feet, a lot shorter than the first range's estimated height of 11,000 feet.
NASA gets a peek at two of Pluto's smaller moons
NASA's New Horizons is showering loads of attention on Pluto and its largest moon Charon, but what about the dwarf planet's tinier moons? Don't worry, the probe is giving these smaller celestial bodies their time in the spotlight. The spacecraft has delivered images of two moons, Nix and Hydra, that are detailed enough to give clues to their geography. Nix, for instance, has a reddish spot that might be a crater. Hydra, meanwhile, has an irregular shape that could easily remind you of a mutant potato.
NASA probe phones home from beyond Pluto (update)
New Horizons has already sent back one of the clearest, closest photos of Pluto ever, but it has more in store for NASA and all space lovers. The agency is waiting to hear back from the probe by around 9PM today: it's slated to beam back a series of status updates that will let NASA know if it's in good health after the flyby, along with even more data and images. We'll update this post ater the Pluto team releases more info, but you can watch NASA's webcast to see the call happen live. Update: The Pluto team has received confirmation that New Horizons has survived the flyby and is in good health! NASA will resume its webcast at 9:30PM -- we've embedded the video stream below the fold. More details to follow.
Neil deGrasse Tyson and friends gush over today's Pluto flyby
At around 7:50AM Eastern this morning, NASA's New Horizons probe reached its closest point to Pluto, around 7,750 miles away, where it unleashed its full array of equipment to give us our best look yet at the dwarf planet. It's the culmination of a nine-year journey across more than 3 billion miles -- and the scary thing is we won't even know until tonight if it succeeded. To celebrate the occasion, we joined Neil deGrasse Tyson, his colleagues and a theater full of science geeks at the American Natural History Museum to explore what the New Horizons mission really means. You can check out the full session, as well as some highlights from the event, below.
How to join NASA's festivities as New Horizons flies by Pluto
In a few hours, at 7:49 AM Eastern time, the New Horizons probe will fly 7,750 miles above the surface of Pluto, something no other spacecraft has accomplished before. Unfortunately, we can't fly with the probe as it swoops in on the dwarf planet, but we can celebrate with NASA when it happens. The agency will hold a live webcast for the event starting at 7:30AM, which you can watch in the video below the fold. After the countdown to the flyby, NASA will unveil one of the closest photos of Pluto humanity has ever taken between 8 and 9AM.
Here's your closest look yet at Pluto's largest moon, Charon
Sure, Pluto may be hogging the spotlight (if deservedly so), but what about its largest moon, Charon? Don't worry, NASA hasn't forgotten about checking in on this celestial neighbor. The New Horizons probe has delivered one of the first true close-ups of Charon, and it's clear that this is much more than a nondescript chunk of ice. It's full of chasms and craters that make Earth seem flat by comparison -- the largest crevice is "miles deeper" than the Grand Canyon, for a start. There's also a curious, 200-mile "dark region" around its northern pole. The moon will play second fiddle once again when New Horizons flies by Pluto on the 14th, but it's at least getting its moment in the (very distant) sun. [Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI]
Pluto's latest photo shows geologic features
As the New Horizons probe gets closer to Pluto, the pictures its cameras capture also get clearer. Take for example the black-and-white image above: it's no longer just a blob or an extremely blurry circle. Sure, it's not as sharp as we'd all like it to be (pssst, you'll only have to wait a few more days for those pics), but its details are pronounced enough to show the dwarf planet's geology. What you can see here is the side of Pluto that always faces its largest moon, Charon. It was taken on July 9th by the spacecraft's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) from a distance of 3.3 million miles.
430,000 names are hurtling towards Pluto right now
Do you remember what you were doing on the internet back in 2005? No, of course you don't--modern smartphones didn't exist yet, YouTube was just starting out and Facebook was still just an "online college yearbook." You might have stumbled upon a NASA webpage looking for folks to be a part of the "first mission to the last planet." Participants had their name burned onto a CD and launched into space with the New Horizons spacecraft. Can't remember if your moniker is among the stars? There's an easy way to find out.
NASA observatories back up New Horizons in observing Pluto
NASA's New Horizons is getting more than a little help from its friends -- other observatories and spacecraft, if you want to be technical -- in studying what was once the ninth planet. When it flies by Pluto on July 14th, Cassini's eyes will also leave Saturn for a bit to turn them onto the dwarf planet and take photos from a distance. On July 23rd, the Spitzer Space Telescope will start gathering infrared data from the ex-planet for seven days, while Kepler's turn will begin in October. The Kepler observatory, which usually hunts for exoplanets, will focus on Pluto for three full months, measuring the light that reflects off its surface and off Charon's (its largest moon).
NASA's latest Pluto images actually show a planet
At last, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is sending back images of Pluto that look (slightly) better than brown blobs or pixel art. The probe has delivered a new batch of images from between 7.8 million to 9.2 million miles away, or close enough that the dwarf planet is starting to reveal some meaningful detail. There's still no explanation for those giant spots, but it's evident that there's a "continuous swath" of dark ground near the equator. And if you'd like pictures that are better than fuzzy, you might not have to hold out for too much longer. New Horizons should be considerably closer when it recovers from its recent glitch, and the expected July 14th flyby should produce a ton of extra detail. [Image credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI]
NASA's Pluto probe will spend 'days' recovering from a glitch (updated)
Don't expect to hear more from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft for a while. The Pluto observer recently encountered a glitch that made it lose contact for an hour and a half. That doesn't sound like much of a problem, but it was enough to kick the probe into a safe mode that doesn't collect scientific data. The mission team believes it could take up to "several days" to get back to normal due to the distance from Earth -- and that's slightly worrying when the mission's all-important Pluto flyby should take place on July 14th. While there's a good chance that New Horizons will be back to normal by the time it's close to the dwarf planet, it's clear that every day of downtime will matter. Update: NASA expects business as usual to resume on July 7th. The problem was an obscure "timing flaw" in the flyby command sequence, and there are no plans to repeat that sequence again. Also, the downtime will have a "minimal" impact on New Horizon's secondary scientific goals.
NASA's New Horizons captures images of mysterious spots on Pluto
As the New Horizons spacecraft preps for its inspection of Pluto on July 14th, NASA provided a status update with some interesting info. First, new color images show a series of spots along the dwarf planet's equator. The evenly-spaced spots are about 300 miles (480 kilometers) in diameter, or about the size of the state of Missouri. Due to the spacing and size, scientists are unable to determine their origin for the time being, but that could change as New Horizons moves in for a closer look. Another thing researchers will be looking for as the spacecraft makes its approach? Clouds. Should Pluto have them, they can be used to track the speed and direction of the planet's winds.
NASA mission sends back fuzzy, color 'movies' of Pluto
Sure, Pluto doesn't have full-fledged planetary status anymore, but we're still excited to get some pictures from the edge of the Solar System. The New Horizons spacecraft is carrying a "Multicolor Visible Imaging Camera" that takes stills in blue, red, and near-infrared, then puts them together for a color picture. It took a series of pictures between May 29th and June 3rd that show the dwarf planet and its largest moon, Charon revolving around their shared center of gravity. The mission will make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14th when it gets about 7,800 miles above the surface (shown above in an artist rendering). You can check out the low-res animation after the break, and mark your calendar for the better look that's just 24 days away.
