Scientists are awaiting a series of status updates from the spacecraft that indicate it survived the flyby and is in good health -- scheduled for about 6 p.m. PDT -- as well as data and images collected during the closest approach.
This image was taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft on July 13, 2015, at a distance of 476,000 miles (768,000 kilometers) from Pluto. This is the last and most detailed image sent to Earth before the
spacecraft’s closest approach to Pluto on July 14. The color image has
been combined with lower-resolution color information from the Ralph
instrument that was acquired earlier on July 13. This view is dominated
by the large, bright feature informally named the “heart,” which
measures approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across. The heart
borders darker equatorial terrains, and the mottled terrain to its east
(right) are complex. However, even at this resolution, much of the
heart’s interior appears remarkably featureless—possibly a sign of
ongoing geologic processes.
Credit: NASA/APL/SwRIAfter a 3-billion-mile journey and a decade of space flight, NASA's New Horizons mission became the first to explore the dwarf planet Pluto on Tuesday, passing within 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) of the distant and mysterious world.
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