Zee Media Bureau


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New Delhi: NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has released sharpest images ever of cratered, mountainous and glacial terrains on Pluto, now in colour.


Previously, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft had returned close-up images of Pluto to the Earth which were taken when the probe whizzed past Pluto on July 14, 2015, coming within 7,800 miles of the icy planet's surface.


Also read: New Horizons returns Pluto's sharpest images ever


According to NASA, the pictures are part of a sequence taken near New Horizons’ closest approach to Pluto, with resolutions of about 250-280 feet (77-85 meters) per pixel – revealing features smaller than half a city block on Pluto’s surface. Lower resolution color data (at about 2,066 feet, or 630 meters, per pixel) were added to create this new image.


Here is a look at the incredible image:


 



The New Horizons spacecraft is now more than 3 billion miles (about 5 billion kilometers) from Earth, and more than 43 million miles (69 million kilometers) beyond Pluto. NASA says the spacecraft is healthy and all systems are operating normally.


Also read: Picture: New Pluto images from New Horizons show mysterious complexity


New Horizons spacecraft became the first-ever space mission to explore the icy planet.