Pluto (bright blob) and Charon as seen from New Horizons (Photo : NASA)
NASA has been exploring space for 4.8 billion kilometers and only last week it had sent its probe "New Horizons" into the depths of the universe to explore Pluto and its surroundings. It has sent back color images of planet Pluto.
The probe was prepared by keeping it in a long hibernation period of 1873 days in order to preserve its electronic systems and instruments. The probe was then cleared off to explore Pluto on Jan. 15, when it was at a distance of 260 million kilometers, according to Cubic Lane.
The images which have been transmitted back so far are mere points of light which the NASA researchers are currently using to maneuver the probe to its proper destination, which is located at 12,500 km from the actual surface of the planet Pluto, according to CNN Edition.
NASA promises that more detailed and clear images will be available shortly, as soon as the craft reaches its destination and starts clicking pictures. It was sent to solve the mystery which surrounds the tiny planet and its moons.
Pluto is smaller than our Moon and its atmosphere has nitrogen and is full of ice and rocks. It takes one full revolution around the sun in 247.7 years and has a diameter of around 2,300 km. It is composed of a mass that is 500 times smaller than what our planet Earth is composed of.
Scientists say that Pluto might be having an ocean of water which is hidden beneath a sheet of thick ice. Also, one of its moons, Charon, might be having an atmosphere similar to Earth's atmosphere.
After it completes this mission on Pluto, "New Horizons" will continue its journey and explore other objects which fall in the Kuiper Belt.
