New Horizons is changing what we know about Pluto.
After flying 3 billion miles, a probe that NASA launched over nine years ago is sending us the most detailed pictures of the dwarf planet Pluto that scientists have ever seen. At 7:49 a.m. on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, the New Horizons probe, packed with cameras and scientific instruments, flew within 7,800 miles of Pluto, the closest any human-launched craft has ever gotten to its surface.
The discoveries have already been surprising – Pluto has a young range of ice mountains, which could signal ongoing geological activity, and its moon Charon has deep chasms and an unexplained dark region at one pole.
Several of our Challenge competitors over the years have told us that they want to be astronauts or planetary scientists when they grow up. We can’t wait to see which corners of the galaxy they’ll be exploring in a few years!
