NASA

NASA New Horizons Mission: Pluto has its close-up

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NASA’s New Horizons Mission to Pluto had a successful flyby of the dwarf planet today. NASA has to wait for the data transmission to arrive later today to develop the close-up photos of Pluto and its moon Charon, some photos will be available on Wednesday. Pluto up close: Spacecraft apparently makes successful flyby:

In a day of both jubilation and tension, scientists waited anxiously Tuesday for NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft to send word across 3 billion miles and confirm it got humanity’s first up-close look at Pluto.

All indications were that the craft successfully made its flyby, and a cheering, flag-waving celebration swept over the mission operations center in Maryland. But confirmation was not expected to reach Earth from the edge of the solar system for another 13 hours, or about 9 p.m. EDT.

NASA

Guests and New Horizons team members countdown to the spacecraft’s closest approach to Pluto, Tuesday, July 14, 2015.

The unprecedented encounter was the last stop on NASA’s grand tour of the planets over the past half-century. New Horizons arrived at the small icy world after an epic journey that began 9½ years ago, back when Pluto was still considered a full-fledged planet.

“This is truly a hallmark in human history,” said John Grunsfeld, NASA’s science mission chief. “It’s been an incredible voyage.”

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NASA New Horizons Mission: Pluto is ready for its close-up

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When I was in grade school making a mobile of the solar system for science class, Pluto was the ninth planet. Yeah, that was a long time ago.

Things have dramatically changed since then. Is Pluto a planet? The answer may surprise you:

pluto-a-largeHorizontal375NASA’s New Horizons mission will fly by Pluto [on July 14th, 2015. The New Horizons spacecraft will zip past Pluto and its five known moons], after spending nearly a decade in space. Pluto, as you may recall, was stripped of its planetary title back in 2005, for reasons that some scientists think are bogus. Now, they’re hoping to welcome Pluto back to the planetary club.

In 2005, scientists discovered a large, rocky object close to Pluto. The discovery of Eris put scientists in an intergalactic pickle—should they make Eris the tenth planet in our solar system, or sacrifice Pluto and make them both dwarf planets? Because Eris is larger than Pluto, it would be inconsistent for scientists to leave well enough alone.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) finally reached a decision.

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