Johns Hopkins University scientist Kirby Runyon wants to make one thing clear: Regardless of what one prestigious scientific organization says to the contrary, Pluto is a planet. So is Europa, commonly known as a moon of ...
Space Exploration
Mar 17, 2017
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New color images from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft show two very different faces of the mysterious dwarf planet, one with a series of intriguing spots along the equator that are evenly spaced. Each of the spots is about ...
Space Exploration
Jul 3, 2015
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On Pluto, icebergs floating in a sea of nitrogen ice are key to a possible explanation of the quilted appearance of the Sputnik Planum region of the dwarf planet's surface.
Space Exploration
Jun 1, 2016
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It's amazing that we've come such a long way in our exploration of the Pluto system, and it's only been five months since the close flyby of New Horizons. From the exceptionally young ice-covered plain informally named Tombaugh ...
Space Exploration
Dec 4, 2015
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Far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, where the sun is a pinprick of light not much brighter than other stars, a vast swarm of icy bodies circles the solar system. Astronomers call it the "Oort Cloud," and it is the ...
Space Exploration
Feb 9, 2013
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One of the fastest spacecraft ever built—NASA's New Horizons—is hurtling through the void at nearly one million miles per day. Launched in 2006, it has been in flight longer than some missions last, and it is nearing ...
Space Exploration
Jan 15, 2014
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NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is far from done making waves in cosmic discoveries. Up next: Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 a billion miles beyond Pluto.
Space Exploration
Apr 17, 2016
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A year ago, Pluto was just a bright speck in the cameras of NASA's approaching New Horizons spacecraft, not much different than its appearances in telescopes since Clyde Tombaugh discovered the then-ninth planet in 1930.
Space Exploration
Mar 18, 2016
0
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Mankind's first close-up look at Pluto did not disappoint Wednesday: The pictures showed ice mountains on Pluto about as high as the Rockies and chasms on its big moon Charon that appear six times deeper than the Grand Canyon.
Space Exploration
Jul 16, 2015
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Eight months after its encounter with the New Horizons spacecraft, Pluto continues to surprise the scientists who study this distant world.
Space Exploration
Mar 17, 2016
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