9 Things The New Horizon Probe Has Taught Us About Pluto
9. Weve Finally Completed The Family Album
This pluto flyby has finally completed our collection of hi-res images of the classical nine planets in our solar system. The New Horizons mission was launched just before Pluto was "demoted" to a dwarf planet in 2006, its aim was to explore the last mysterious planet in our solar system, so for the purposes of this mission, Pluto has sort of become an honorary planet once more in the eyes of both the public and many scientists.
The flyby marks the 50th anniversary of the first Mars encounter by NASA's Mariner 4 probe back in 1965 when Pluto was just a glimmer in scientists' eyes. Pluto encounter marks the culmination of half a century of space exploration and goes to show just how far we've come.