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Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume, by a small margin, but is less massive than Eris.
On February 12, 2015, NASA released new images of Pluto (taken from January 25 to 31) from the approaching probe. [ 133 ] [ 134 ] New Horizons was more than 203 million km (126 million mi) away from Pluto when it began taking the photos, which showed Pluto and its largest moon, Charon.
The geography of Pluto refers to the study and mapping of physical features across the dwarf planet Pluto. On 14 July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft became the first spacecraft to fly by Pluto. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] During its brief flyby, New Horizons made detailed geographical measurements and observations of Pluto and its moons .
The cancellation of Pluto Kuiper Express angered some of the space-exploration scientific community, which led to groups, such as The Planetary Society, lobbying NASA for either a reboot of the Pluto Kuiper Express or a restart of a mission to Pluto. Internal divisions within NASA, including its Scientific Advisory Council, also voiced support ...
This new view of Pluto's crescent stunningly highlights the dwarf planet's varied terrains, extended atmosphere and familiar Arctic look. NASA releases stunning new 'Earth-like' images of Pluto ...
NASA was on Capitol Hill this week, making the case for its planetary exploration budget. It's holding up its New Horizons mission to Pluto as ongoing evidence for the importance of that funding.
Pluto Hop, Skip, and Jump: NASA: N/A: Lander: A probe designed to land on Pluto, similar to the proposed Triton Hopper mission. N/A [19] Mariner Mark II: NASA: N/A [a] N/A [a] Proposed family of spacecraft intended to explore dwarf planets and trans-Neptunian objects, later replaced by the lower-cost Discovery Program. N/A: N/A New Horizons 2 ...
Pluto, a dwarf planet, and its moons are in the far fringes of our solar system in a zone known as the Kuiper Belt. Besides water ice, ammonia and organic materials were previously detected on Charon. Both Pluto and Charon are over 3 billion miles (4.83 billion kilometers) from the sun and are likely too chilly to support life.