To make the video, scientists involved in the New Horizons project – the spacecraft that whizzed past Pluto last July – stitched together over 100 images from the mission into a progression that attempts to simulate what a trip to the outer reaches of our solar system would feel like.
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“New Horizons not only completed the era of first reconnaissance of the planets, the mission has intrigued and inspired”.
A new video takes viewers on a ride almost down to the dwarf planet’s surface, stopping just above the rippled “shoreline” of the vast nitrogen-ice plain known as Sputnik Planum.
Also, New Horizon came as close as to 7,800 miles of the dwarf planet’s surface. “Even today, New Horizons captures our imagination, rekindles our curiosity, and reminds us of what’s possible”. Other evidence found by New Horizons indicates Pluto could well have an internal water-ice ocean today. “Who knew that Pluto would have a heart?” said NASA’s Director of Planetary Science Jim Green. “As part of an extended mission, pending NASA approval, the spacecraft is expected to head farther into the Kuiper Belt to examine another of the ancient, icy mini-worlds in that vast region, at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit”, says the space agency.
Along with this, the New Horizons data has revealed detailed views, showing how Pluto’s moon Charon has a red polar cap.
“It’s of fundamental importance for the survival of life on this planet that we know what our neighborhood is”, Jim Green, who heads NASA’s Planetary Science Division, told the Monitor a year ago.
Finally, New Horizons made perhaps the sweetest discovery in the history of space exploration when it captured images of a heart-shaped nitrogen glacier on Pluto’s surface.
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The lack of additional Pluto satellites beyond what was discovered before New Horizons was unexpected. While the most striking finding was the blue edge of the Pluto, which extends to more than 200 km above the surface of the planet. Recently, the USA space agency officially approved an extended mission for New Horizons, allowing the probe to fly by a small object called 2014 MU69 on January 1, 2019. “It’s been a real privilege to be able to do that, for which I’ll be forever indebted to our team and our nation”.
