New Horizons takes new images of Pluto
Posted: Thu, Feb 5, 2015, 6:15 AM ET (1115 GMT)
NASA released Wednesday new images of Pluto and its largest moon taken by the New Horizons missions, the first from the spacecraft since it began the encounter phase of its mission. The images, taken in late January by the spacecraft's Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) instrument, are the best images to date taken by the spacecraft. Pluto is resolved in the LORRI images, but shows little detail; by May, though, the spacecraft will be providing images with resolutions better than the Hubble Space Telescope as it closes in on the dwarf planet. The spacecraft, launched in 2006, will fly past Pluto in mid-July. NASA and the New Horizons team released the images Wednesday on the 109th anniversary of the birth of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930.
NASA released Wednesday new images of Pluto and its largest moon taken by the New Horizons missions, the first from the spacecraft since it began the encounter phase of its mission. The images, taken in late January by the spacecraft's Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) instrument, are the best images to date taken by the spacecraft. Pluto is resolved in the LORRI images, but shows little detail; by May, though, the spacecraft will be providing images with resolutions better than the Hubble Space Telescope as it closes in on the dwarf planet. The spacecraft, launched in 2006, will fly past Pluto in mid-July. NASA and the New Horizons team released the images Wednesday on the 109th anniversary of the birth of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, March 8
Two private companies reach the Moon within four days
The Economist — 9:50 am ET (1450 GMT) Space Force Secretly Tested Sensors that Alert When China Is Watching
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 9:49 am ET (1449 GMT) Space Development Agency delays next launch amid supply chain woes
Defense News — 9:48 am ET (1448 GMT) So, We Are Really Sending Katy Perry to Space
The Ringer — 9:47 am ET (1447 GMT) Musk’s SpaceX confirms Starlink lease agreement with FAA
The Hill — 9:45 am ET (1445 GMT) |
