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New Horizons spacecraft over dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon
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New Horizons spacecraft over dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon
NASAs New Horizons unmanned spacecraft over dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon. New Horizons has been en route to Pluto since its launch from Earth in 2006 and is scheduled to make its closest approach on July 14, 2015.
New Horizons is about the size and shape of a grand piano and weighed 1, 054 pounds at launch. The high-gain dish antenna is about 7 feet in diameter and is employed for communication with the Earth.
In this image the New Horizons spacecraft is about 10, 000 miles from Pluto (upper right), 22, 000 miles from its largest moon Charon (upper left) and 2.97 billion miles from the Earth. Dominating this side of the spacecraft with an 8 inch aperture is the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), a digital camera with a large telephoto telescope fortified to operate in the cold, hostile environs of deep space. At 90 days before closest approach to Pluto, LORRIs images will surpass the quality of the best Hubble Space Telescope images of Pluto.
While little is known about Plutos appearance, here this Kuiper belt dwarf planet is realized as a frozen world covered with various ices, hosting a thin atmosphere of nitrogen, methane and other hydrocarbons too possibly, with a significantly weathered surface as Plutos 248-year orbit alternately brings it closer then further from the warmth of the sun
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Media ID 13064571
© Walter Myers/Stocktrek Images
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EDITORS COMMENTS
This print captures the awe-inspiring sight of NASAs New Horizons spacecraft as it hovers over the enigmatic dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon. After a journey spanning nearly a decade, this unmanned spacecraft is finally nearing its closest approach to Pluto on July 14,2015. Resembling the size and shape of a grand piano, New Horizons weighs an impressive 1,054 pounds at launch. Its high-gain dish antenna, measuring about 7 feet in diameter, serves as a vital communication link with Earth throughout its mission. In this image taken from approximately 10,000 miles away from Pluto and 22,000 miles away from Charon, we can see the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) dominating one side of the spacecraft. Equipped with an 8-inch aperture lens specially designed for deep space exploration conditions, LORRI is capable of capturing images that surpass even those captured by the renowned Hubble Space Telescope. While Plutos appearance remains largely mysterious to us until now, this frozen world within the Kuiper belt reveals itself as covered in various icy formations. Its thin atmosphere consists mainly of nitrogen and methane along with other hydrocarbons. The surface bears signs of significant weathering due to Plutos elliptical orbit that alternates between closer proximity to and further distance from the warmth of our sun. This extraordinary photograph offers us a glimpse into the vastness and beauty of our universe while reminding us how far humanity has come in exploring these distant celestial bodies.
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