This map-projected view of the dwarf planet Pluto was created from images taken by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) between July 7 and July 14, 2015.
Global map of Pluto as of July 28, 2015. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.
The map includes all resolved images of the dwarf planet’s surface captured between July 7-14, 2015, at pixel resolutions ranging from 24 miles (40 km) on the Charon-facing hemisphere (left and right sides of the map) to 1,250 feet (400 m) on the anti-Charon facing hemisphere (map center).
Many additional images are expected in fall of 2015 and these will be used to complete the global map.
Today, New Horizons is around 10.2 million miles (16.4 million km) from Pluto and almost 3 billion miles (4.8 billion km) from Earth. The spacecraft is healthy and all systems are operating normally.
After the Pluto flyby, New Horizons continues on its journey exploring the Kuiper Belt, in the hopes of uncovering answers to more of the mysteries surrounding this region at the edge of the Solar System.
The spacecraft will flyby one or several Kuiper Belt Objects with diameters exceeding 20 miles (35 km). This phase of the mission will last from five to ten years.
This mosaic provides the best view ever obtained of the dwarf planet Pluto. The lower right edge of the planet in this view currently lacks high-resolution color coverage. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.
But observations of the Pluto system won’t end. According to Dr John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, scientists will continue to be able to observe Pluto and its moons with the Hubble Space Telescope and, especially, with the future James Webb Space Telescope.
