High-resolution images of Pluto taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft just before closest approach on July 14, 2015, are the sharpest images to date of Pluto's varied terrain-revealing details down to scales of 270 meters. In this 75-mile (120-kilometer) section taken from the larger, high-resolution mosaic, the textured surface of the plain surrounds two isolated ice mountains.
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, designed, built, and operates the New Horizons spacecraft, and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, leads the science team, payload operations and encounter science planning. New Horizons is part of the New Frontiers Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Name | Value | Additional Values |
---|---|---|
Target | Pluto | |
System | Pluto | Kuiper Belt |
Target Type | Dwarf Planet | KBO |
Mission | New Horizons | |
Instrument Host | New Horizons | |
Host Type | Flyby Spacecraft | |
Instrument | Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) | |
Detector | ||
Extra Keywords | Color, Mountain | |
Acquisition Date | ||
Release Date | 2015-09-24 | |
Date in Caption | 2015-07-14 | |
Image Credit | NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute | |
Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19954 | |
Identifier | PIA19954 |