NASA Releases First Images From Pluto Flyby
- 9 years ago
NASA has revealed new images of Pluto that were taken by the New Horizons spacecraft as it flew within 8,000 miles of the dwarf planet.
The spacecraft New Horizons has sent back the first close-up photos of Pluto.
As expected, select images were revealed to the public during a press conference this afternoon, and they showed incredible detail for being shot with equipment that was developed more than nine years ago when the probe was launched.
NASA notes, "New close-up images of a region near Pluto’s equator reveal a giant surprise: a range of youthful mountains rising as high as 11,000 feet above the surface of the icy body...
The mountains likely formed no more than 100 million years ago -- mere youngsters relative to the 4.56-billion-year age of the solar system...
That suggests the close-up region, which covers less than one percent of Pluto’s surface, may still be geologically active today."
In fact,
The spacecraft New Horizons has sent back the first close-up photos of Pluto.
As expected, select images were revealed to the public during a press conference this afternoon, and they showed incredible detail for being shot with equipment that was developed more than nine years ago when the probe was launched.
NASA notes, "New close-up images of a region near Pluto’s equator reveal a giant surprise: a range of youthful mountains rising as high as 11,000 feet above the surface of the icy body...
The mountains likely formed no more than 100 million years ago -- mere youngsters relative to the 4.56-billion-year age of the solar system...
That suggests the close-up region, which covers less than one percent of Pluto’s surface, may still be geologically active today."
In fact,