Pluto – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

A crescent Pluto shines like a jewel in the Kuiper Belt

October 29, 2015 Stephen Clark

An image released Thursday, taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft minutes after zipping past Pluto in July, shows the backlit world on a new scale, revealing rugged mountains, glacial plains and deep layers of atmospheric haze.

Initial Pluto flyby science results published

October 16, 2015 William Harwood

The first scientific review of data collected during the New Horizons flyby of Pluto describe a small world with a thin but surprisingly complex atmosphere and a variety of surface features, ranging from ancient impact craters to geologically recent glaciers and other structures that reflect widespread resurfacing.

Skies are blue and water ice is red on Pluto

October 8, 2015 Stephen Clark

It turns out Pluto’s distinct haze layer carries a bluish hue, and deposits of water ice poking out from the frozen world’s crust are covered in a red sheen, scientists said Thursday.

Secrets behind Pluto’s pastels far from being answered

September 24, 2015 Stephen Clark

Geologists said Thursday they are bewildered by images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft baring unseen landscapes on Pluto with unexpected “snakeskin” textures, colorful chasms routing through ancient landforms, and vivid new views of apparent glacial flows.

Haunting sunset vista shows foggy hazes on Pluto

September 17, 2015 Stephen Clark

A crescent Pluto stars in pictures captured just after NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft’s July flyby of the distant dwarf planet, exposing eerie backlit fog banks that scientists say hint at an Earth-like weather cycle.

Scientists revel in latest Pluto close-ups

September 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

Fresh views from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft released Thursday reveal diverse landscapes on Pluto, possible dune fields, mysterious channels, and nitrogen ice flows in greater detail than ever before, but it is just the tip of the iceberg as data from the far-flung probe resumes streaming back to Earth.

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.

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.