A Love Note From Space: Pluto Like You Have Never Seen It Before
(CBS) -- Culminating a nearly 10 year, three billion mile journey, earthlings on Tuesday were treated to the most detailed images of Pluto since the dwarf planet was discovered 85 years ago.
The New Horizons spacecraft buzzed Pluto from 7,500 miles above its surface, making it the first-ever space mission to explore a world so far from Earth. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said hitting that target is the equivalent of hitting a golf ball on the east coast and making a hole in one on the west coast.
New Horizons was launched in 2006, and Tuesday was the day NASA scientists had been waiting for.
And while Pluto had been demoted from full-status planet in 2006, it showed it does have a heart.
Take a look at the shape at the lower right and you will see.
In January, 1930 Clyde Tombaugh took this photographic plate at Lowell Observatory, in Flagstaff, Ariz., that led to discovery of Pluto.
The Adler Planetarium was completed before astronomers knew Pluto even existed, as evidenced by this plaque:
"The exploration of Pluto and its moons by New Horizons represents the capstone event to 50 years of planetary exploration by NASA and the United States," said Bolden. "Once again we have achieved a historic first. The United States is the first nation to reach Pluto, and with this mission has completed the initial survey of our solar system, a remarkable accomplishment that no other nation can match."
New Horizons is the fastest spacecraft ever launched – speeding through the Pluto system at more than 30,000 mph. A collision with a particle as small as a grain of rice could ruin he spacecraft. It will take 16 months for New Horizons to return 10 years of collected data back to Earth.
What a difference 85 years makes.
