Explanation:
It took 9.5 years
to get this close, but you can now
take a virtual flight over Pluto in this
animation of image data from the
New Horizons spacecraft.
The Plutonian terrain unfolding 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers)
below is identified as Norgay Montes, followed by Sputnik Planum.
The icy mountains, informally named for one of the
first two Mount Everest climbers Tenzing Norgay,
reach up to 11,000 feet (3,500 meters)
above the surface.
The frozen, young, craterless plains
are informally named for the Earth's first artificial satellite.
Sputnik Planum is north
of Norgay Montes, within Pluto's expansive, bright,
heart-shaped feature provisionally known as Tombaugh Regio for
Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
