New Horizons – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

Distant ice ball to become farthest object ever visited

August 31, 2015 Stephen Clark

A frozen fragment left over from the formation of the solar system is set to become the most distant object ever explored by a human-built space probe, scientists working on the New Horizons mission said Friday.

Scientists eager for restart of Pluto photo pipeline

August 26, 2015 Stephen Clark

The first images from the New Horizons spacecraft since late July will come back to Earth on Sept. 5, and scientists are salivating over what the new pictures will reveal about Pluto.

Scientists plan for New Horizons probe’s second act

August 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Scientists are about to decide where to send NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft next, and it is down to two candidates at the frozen frontier of the solar system to become the most distant object ever visited by a human-built space probe.

The heart of Pluto in high-resolution

July 28, 2015 Stephen Clark

The icy plains of Pluto resolved by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft stretch as wide as Texas, enveloping mountain ranges and bizarre hilly outcrops in a mosaic revealing one lobe of the distant world’s heart-shaped reservoir of exotic frozen carbon monoxide, nitrogen and methane.

NASA probe finds intriguing ice flows under hazy skies on Pluto

July 26, 2015 Stephen Clark

Images obtained during the New Horizons spacecraft’s July 14 encounter with Pluto show apparent glacial ice flows wrapping around barrier islands and towering mountain ranges, all under a haze layer suspended up to 100 miles above the distant world’s frozen surface.

Pluto probe’s camera sees striking geologic boundary

July 21, 2015 Stephen Clark

New views of Pluto’s unexpectedly complicated landscapes are coming back to Earth, revealing stark intersections between freshly-made bright icy plains and heavily-cratered darker terrain.

Pluto’s moons Nix and Hydra resolved

July 21, 2015 Stephen Clark

Two of Pluto’s mini-moons, the mysterious Nix and Hydra, have transitioned from featureless points of light into their own worlds with new imagery from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft.

Fly over Pluto’s newly-explored surfaces

July 18, 2015 Stephen Clark

Using three images beamed back to Earth from the New Horizons spacecraft’s long-range camera, scientists created this jaw-dropping animation of what it might look like to buzz Pluto from 25 miles up.

Scientists find signs of potential geysers on Pluto

July 18, 2015 Stephen Clark

New results from NASA’s New Horizons mission, which zipped about 7,700 miles from faraway Pluto on Tuesday, show puzzling icy landforms covered in frozen carbon monoxide and mysterious dark smudges, which may be evidence for plumes erupting from Pluto’s warmer interior, scientists said Friday.

Scientists share first close-up snapshot of Charon

July 16, 2015 Stephen Clark

A day after revealing mind-boggling ice mountains on Pluto, researchers from NASA’s New Horizons mission on Thursday released a detailed view of its companion Charon, showing a frozen, lightly-cratered world with an intriguing landform scientists have dubbed a ‘mountain in a moat.’