NASA's New Horizons Spacecraft, which will flyby through the Pluto system on July 14, turned on its engines for 93 seconds on Tuesday, March 10, when it was about 4.83 billion kilometers from Earth. No spacecraft had ever conducted an engine burn at so great a distance from its handlers, mission officials said. The Spacecraft is also said to be closer to Pluto than the sun is to Earth, which is also another record set by itself, via the official twitter account of New Horizon's officials: @NewHorizons2015.
The new Horizon also sent back its first new images of the Pluto and its moon, Charon last February 4, 2015. Although the picture rendered just 2 dots, the dwarf planet and its largest moon, the images came on the 109th birthday of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the distant icy world in 1930. "My dad would be thrilled with New Horizons," said Clyde Tombaugh's daughter Annette Tombaugh, of Las Cruces, New Mexico. "To actually see the planet that he had discovered, and find out more about it -- to get to see the moons of Pluto-- he would have been astounded. I'm sure it would have meant so much to him if he were still alive today."
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched the New Horizon back in January 19, 2006, 19:00:00 UTC. After more than nine years in space, it is set to be closest to Pluto in 119 days' time. New Horizon is designed to make the first close-up study of Pluto and its moons and other icy worlds in the distant Kuiper Belt. It is equipped with seven scientific instruments to study the atmospheres, surfaces, interiors, and intriguing environments around the dwarf planet and its moon when it flysby. The New Horizon will also map Pluto's far-side, and look for evidence of rings and magnetic fields around Pluto and its largest moon Charon.
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