New Horizons

space exploration · Pluto · NASA · outer planets

Launched in 2006. New Horizons blasted off from Earth on January 19, 2006, beginning its long journey to the edge of our solar system.

Pluto's first close-up. In 2015, New Horizons flew within 7,800 miles of Pluto and sent back the first detailed photographs of this distant, icy world and revealed it's much more interesting than scientists expected.

Discovered new mountains. The spacecraft revealed that Pluto has towering mountains made of water ice that are as tall as some of Earth's biggest peaks.

Explored moon systems. New Horizons studied Pluto's five moons, including the large moon Charon, and took pictures that showed us details we'd never seen before.

Still going strong. After Pluto, New Horizons kept flying onward and explored a distant object called Arrokoth in 2019, and it continues sending back data from the outer reaches of space.