As of Tuesday, July 14th, 2015, NASA’s New Horizons mission has achieved a fly-by of Pluto, capturing images that excited so many people as it marks not only an important historical event, but also may segue Earth’s space programs into a new age of discovery and exploration. Pictures of Pluto that the spacecraft has captured will reach NASA mission control one Wednesday the 15th around 12 pm EST. Set your alerts.
Astronomical Revelations
NASA has already received a few images from New Horizons, but more and better pictures of Pluto will enlighten scientists even more. With the ones already back on Earth, though, it can be seen that there are several markings and dark spots on the surface.
These may be due to Pluto’s thick atmosphere creating mirages, so scientists are holding off on confirming what these spots and markings are. However, some have said that they look similar to other markings that can be found in our very own solar system. Experts suggest that they appear similar in structure to impact craters or even volcanoes based on the circular markings on the current pictures of Pluto.
It should be noted that the New Horizons’ trajectory has it flying past Pluto at a mere 6,200 miles (~9,978 kilometers), so while the craft isn’t landing on the planet, it is getting incredibly close and will yield pictures of Pluto that give scientists brand new information that will shatter expectations from the scientific community.
This Day is Marked in History
On this day, July 14th, 2015 every planet in the solar system has been explored at least once by a space probe.
Astronomers will finally have detailed information about every planet and know exactly what each one looks like. In a video posted to Facebook, the world-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking expressed his congratulations to everyone involved in the New Horizons mission, “The revelations of New Horizons may help us to understand better how our solar system was formed. We explore because we are human, and we want to know. I hope that Pluto will help us on that journey. I will be watching closely, and I hope you will, too.”
The ashes of the man who first found Pluto back in 1930 were on New Horizons and were launched onto Pluto. Clyde Tombaugh made great strides in the field of astronomy, and now he will rest for eternity on his most prized discovery.
What We’ve Already Learned
Without having all of the photographs, scientists have already realized information they had not previously known. Because of the first set of new pictures of Pluto, scientists are theorizing that the planet may have preserved some cosmic ‘fingerprints’ from the beginning of the solar system from nearly 4 million years ago.
There is also evidence that Pluto and its moons were formed from the cataclysmic collision of two larger cosmic bodies. This is similar to a theory of how Earth and its moon were formed from the original body that Earth once was and the similar in size but now absent Theia.
