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New Horizon Probe Offers First Ever Closer Look of Pluto

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New Horizon Pluto pictures

NASA’s New Horizon is all geared up to make another history with its Pluto mission.

The space probe has travelled nearly five billion km to get a closer look of the dwarf planet.  However, it has to cross 200 more kilometers to reach at the destination. Last week, the government space agency released first few images of the dwarf planet.

Mark Holdrige, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University’s Applies Physics Laboratory talked disclosed the main aim of these photographs. He informs that scientists took these pictures in order to figure out the exact position of the dwarf planet.   They intend to carry out numerous corrections in the route of the spacecraft through these images. It will help the spacecraft to reach the icy object safely.

Although, these images are merely navigation pictures but still they are quite significant. Thus far, no probe or spacecraft has provided such a clear view of the dwarf planet.

The New horizon is expected to touch the surface of the second most massive dwarf planet at a speed of 14Km/s. As per the predictions of mission planners, the spacecraft would probably reach the dwarf planet at 11:50 GMT on the 14th of July 2015.

The chief objective of mission scientists is to fix seven different instruments on Pluto. These instruments will accumulate significant data and will send it to the space agency.

The New Horizons Spacecraft Continues Journey, After Pluto

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new-horizons-spacecraft

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is now setting its sights on other bodies in our solar system after having had a good visit to Pluto.

The Hubble Space Telescope had already spotted three distant bodies that the spacecraft might possibly visit after finishing a flyby of Pluto in 2015. NASA figures one of the bodies is achievable to visit while the other takes more data and technology to see if it can be reached.

Launched in 2006, the New Horizons craft’s primary mission was to get close to Pluto and photograph it and its moons but the team handling the probe want it to check out other objects way out there in the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is a region of our solar system that encircles the Sun at a distance farther out than the outer planets like Neptune. The Kuiper Belt is made up of icy bodies, perhaps even undiscovered planets and their moons.

Getting a deep understanding of the objects in the Kuiper Belt might give us an insight into the origins of the solar system. Scientists are so eager to look at these objects way out there because even though they’re far from the Sun, there is evidence of intriguing characteristics that are just to irresistible to NASA.

The Hubble Space telescope was used to find some KBOs or Kuiper Belt Objects and soon several about 15-30 miles in diameter. The objects are so distant that it will take a while for NASA to examine them as they’re scheduled to fly by Pluto in 2015 and the other objects in 2019 but that’s only if NASA gives the go ahead for the funding.

What lies beyond the Kuiper Belt is still a mystery to scientists and the public. Should some new, groundbreaking discover occur then NASA will have a coup for sure.

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