Destination Pluto: NASA's New Horizons Mission in Pictures

Pluto and Charon in Color, July 8, 2015

NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

This image of Pluto (right) and Charon, taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft on July 8, 2015, combines a view captured by the probe’s long-range camera with color information obtained earlier in the mission from the Ralph instrument.

Heart-Shaped Area on Pluto

NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

New Horizons took this image on July 7, 2015, at a distance of just under 5 million miles (8 million kilometers) from Pluto. A large heart-shaped bright area appears at right. [Read full story.]

Pluto and Charon, July 8, 2015

NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

New Horizons captured Pluto and Charon from a distance of about 3.7 million miles (6 million kilometers) on July 8, 2015.

Pluto, July 8, 2015

NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) captured Pluto on July 8, 2015. The bright edge below the dark “whale” is real, not the result of image processing.

Charon, July 8, 2015

NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

This image of Charon was obtained by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 8, 2015.

Color Image of Pluto by New Horizons

NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

The image shows Pluto in color, obtained by New Horizons spacecraft on July 3, 2015, using color data gathered earlier. [Read the full story.]

Map of Pluto

NASA-JHUAPL-SWRI

This map of Pluto was created from images taken from June 27 – July 3, 2015, by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on New Horizons spacecraft, incorporating lower-resolution color data from the spacecraft’s Ralph instrument. [Read full story.]

Surface Features Emerging on Pluto

NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Pluto and its largest moon Charon, as photographed by New Horizons on July 1, 2015. The inset shows Pluto enlarged; features as small as 100 miles (160 kilometers) across are visible.

Styx's Tommy Shaw and Styx Moon

NASA/Joel Kowsky

There's Styx! Styx's Tommy Shaw points out Pluto's smallest moon with New Horizons team members looking on.

New Horizons Mssion Team and Styx

NASA/Joel Kowsky

Styx poses with members of the New Horizons mission team, who greeted the band at the Kossiakoff Center Auditorium, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, in Laurel, Maryland.

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