New Horizons -First NASA`s Spacecraft to Fly by Pluto!

New Horizons -First NASA`s Spacecraft to Fly by Pluto! On July 14, 2015 NASAs spacecraft New Horizons became the first probe to ever visit Pluto. It successfully flew past the icy planet at 7:49 am EDT Tuesday. Since its launch in 2006 New Horizons traveled 3 billion-mile. This long-term voyage took nine and a half years. On its brief flyby, New Horizons made detailed measurements and observations of Pluto, and its moons: Charon (the largest moon), Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. And for the first time in human history, its going to let us set eyes upon a mysterious new world. Everyone has been waiting for this historic moment. And finally it has happened! The splendid, high-resolution photos of Pluto will reveal  many unknown detail of craters, icy plains and possible mountain ranges on its surface. A couple of words about Pluto. It was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, and was considered the 9 planet from the Sun. Pluto is named after the god of the underworld. After 1992, the status of Pluto as a planet fell into question following the discovery of several objects of similar size in the Kuiper belt. In 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a member of the new dwarf planet category. Some astronomers believe Pluto should still be considered a planet. Want to know more about New Horizons or Pluto? Ask one of our Astronomy tutors.