NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reaches Pluto

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reaches Pluto
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reaches Pluto

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reaches Pluto

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Early Tuesday morning, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reached the high point in its nearly decade-long journey to Pluto. It will approach to Pluto, taking photos of the dwarf planet and its five moons. When New Horizons launched in January 2006, Pluto was still the ninth planet. It was reclassified as a dwarf planet later that year, but Pluto has never lost its grip on people’s imaginations as that mysterious celestial body on the very edge of our solar system. Michelle Nichols, master educator at the Adler Planetarium, discusses why this an important advancement in space technology. (Flickr/NASA)