Today the first of many new pictures of Pluto from the New Horizon mission hit the internet. I've been really happy with all the media attention this is getting, anything that gets space back in people's minds is a great thing. For the first time (and how many times these days can you truly say it was the first time ever something happened) we'll see Pluto close up. Exciting stuff.
Here's a quick blurb on the New Horizons mission:
New Horizons launched on Jan. 19, 2006; it swung past Jupiter for a gravity boost and scientific studies in February 2007, and will conduct a five-month-long reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons in summer 2015. Pluto closest approach is scheduled for July 14, 2015. As part of an extended mission, the spacecraft is expected to head farther into the Kuiper Belt to examine one or two of the ancient, icy mini-worlds in that vast region, at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit.
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