But this is about to change as NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is scheduled to fly by the dwarf planet on its way to the Kuiper Belt on July 14, as per CBS News.
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Scientists have released their latest map of Pluto, using images from the inbound New Horizons spacecraft.
Jeff Moore from the Ames Center further speculated that what we see as a bright fringe on Pluto may be a deposit of frost from the an evaporating polar cap, which is now pointing towards the summer Sunday.
A computer overload prompted the spacecraft to partially shut down on July – just days before the first-ever close flyby of Pluto. This probe, which has travelled over 3.6 billion miles, will give us breathtaking views of the smallest planet that we have never seen before.
Presently, New Horizon has recouped from the weekend hiccup that caused the probe to trip into safe mode for protection and stopped communicating with the Earth for more than an hour. Scientists estimate this cosmic heart to measure somewhere around 1,200 miles (3,000 kilometers) across.
One day after officially announcing correction of the problem and resumption of all science activities, the New Horizons team celebrated the beginning of its encounter mode. “Also puzzling is the longstanding and dramatic difference in the colors and appearance of Pluto compared to its darker and grayer moon Charon”.
The image, available below, was taken from a distance of 5 million miles (about 8 million kilometers) and shows several rather intriguing features noticeable on the surface of Pluto.
So, while New Horizons approaches Pluto, you can join in the excitement by spotting the tiny, icy world yourself.
“While we prefer that this event hadn’t occurred, I can tell you that this is a speed bump in the total return, and that we expect and are looking forward to getting back tomorrow with the data collect”, Stern said.
The potential Pluto moon names also include themes such as Fictional Explorers and Travelers, Fictional Origins and Destinations, Fictional Vessels and Exploration Authors, Artists and Directors for Charon.
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The encounter will make space history – completing the initial reconnaissance of our classical solar system – and, because the stamp is affixed to the probe, it will make some postal history, too, according to SPACE.
