The New Horizons spacecraft will finally whizz past Pluto next month, giving us the clearest image yet of the icy dwarf planet.
Launched in 2006 by NASA, it has taken nearly 10 years for the spacecraft to reach Pluto – even though it is traveling at almost 60,000 km/h (over 35,000 mph).
To commemorate this maiden voyage, the National Space Society has released the teaser trailer below of planetary bodies we have already seen up close.
And hopefully – on July 14 – New Horizons will get near enough to Pluto to snap a clearer photo than the spacecraft has managed so far, passing the former planet at a tantalizingly close distance of 27,000 kilometers (16,777 miles).
Coincidentally, 2006 was the year Pluto was demoted from “planet” to “dwarf planet,” making this mission almost seem more like an apology from Earth than an exploratory mission.
