This new, detailed global mosaic color map of Pluto is based on a series of three color filter images obtained by the Ralph\/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera aboard New Horizons during the NASA spacecrafts close flyby of Pluto in July 2015. The mosaic shows how Plutos large-scale color patterns extend beyond the hemisphere facing New Horizons at closest approach, which were imaged at the highest resolution. North is up; Plutos equator roughly bisects the band of dark red terrains running across the lower third of the map. Plutos giant, informally named Sputnik Planitia glacier the left half of Plutos signature heart feature is at the center of this map. Note: Click on the image to view in the highest resolution. Image & Caption Credit: NASA\/JHUAPL\/SwRI <\/p>\n
Using actual New Horizons data and digital elevation models of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, mission scientists have created flyover movies that offer spectacular new perspectives of the many unusual features that were discovered and which have reshaped our views of the Pluto system from a vantage point even closer than the spacecraft itself. <\/p>\n
This dramatic Pluto flyover begins over the highlands to the southwest of the great expanse of nitrogen ice plain informally named Sputnik Planitia. The viewer first passes over the western margin of Sputnik, where it borders the dark, cratered terrain of Cthulhu Macula, with the blocky mountain ranges located within the plains seen on the right. The tour moves north past the rugged and fractured highlands of Voyager Terra and then turns southward over Pioneer Terra which exhibits deep and wide pits before concluding over the bladed terrain of Tartarus Dorsa in the far east of the encounter hemisphere. <\/p>\n
Digital mapping and rendering were performed by Paul Schenk and John Blackwell of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. <\/p>\n
Video courtesy of NASA <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tagged: Charon Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA New Horizons Pluto The Range <\/p>\n
Formed in 1958, NASA is one of the preeminent space agencies currently in operation, is the only organization to land astronauts on the surface of the Moon, to carry out extended missions on the planet Mars and more. <\/p>\n
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NASA releases New Horizons flyover video - SpaceFlight Insider<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This new, detailed global mosaic color map of Pluto is based on a series of three color filter images obtained by the Ralph\/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera aboard New Horizons during the NASA spacecrafts close flyby of Pluto in July 2015. The mosaic shows how Plutos large-scale color patterns extend beyond the hemisphere facing New Horizons at closest approach, which were imaged at the highest resolution. Continue reading