Today at 11:49 UTC New Horizons (NH) flew past Pluto at its closest point of under 8000 miles and hopefully took lots of pics so that we can see Pluto clearer than ever! The window of opportunity was just over 86secs and with the craft travelling at about 14km/s and the need to send the info way before the actual happening, all hopes are on a smooth operation as NH now heads out towards the Kuiper Belt.
This monumental and historic feat completes mankinds look at all the nine main bodies in our solar system, just think about that for a moment. :think:
To tide you over till the new shots come through this photo was released yesterday showing Pluto and it's now popular Heart shaped feature, and yes it is not blue, though we did know this but those of you who learned about the Solar System in your kiddie days may find it hard to take in that fact. :cry:
The new photos should be shown in all their glory tomorrow, unless Pluto has a defence system and the aliens blew the craft up.