New Horizons flew past Pluto so quickly that an encounter nine years in the making was effectively over within hours — but the data gathered during that brief passage took another 15 months to trickle home
Coverage marks the anniversary of NASA's New Horizons mission and its high-speed encounter with the dwarf planet Pluto.
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The brief
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto in July 2015 following a nine-and-a-half-year journey covering 3 billion miles. Traveling at roughly 32,000 miles per hour, the craft had less than 30 minutes to photograph the entire dwarf planet during an encounter that lasted only hours.
Reports from Space Daily, The Times of India, upi.com, and Yahoo emphasize the contrast between the speed of the flyby and the duration of data retrieval. While the encounter was brief, it took another 15 months for the gathered data to return to Earth.
Current coverage focuses on the historical timeline of the mission's closest look at Pluto. Future updates may depend on the continued processing of data gathered during that passage.
Synthesized by Newsylist from the headlines below under a strict no-invention contract. ✓ fact-checked: all claims supported by sources Updated just now.
Quick answers
How fast was New Horizons traveling during the Pluto flyby?
The spacecraft was traveling at roughly 32,000 miles per hour.
How long did it take the spacecraft to reach Pluto?
The journey took nine and a half years to cover 3 billion miles.
How long did it take for the encounter data to reach Earth?
The data gathered during the brief passage took another 15 months to trickle home.
Coverage (5)
- When the New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto in July of 2015 after a nine-and-a-half-year journey from Earth, it was traveling so fast — roughly 32,000 miles per hour — that it had less than 30 minutes to photograph the entire dwarf planet, and the im Space Daily · 18h ago broke it first
- NASA’s New Horizons travelled 3 billion miles over 9 years to reach Pluto The Times of India · 18h ago
- On This Day: NASA's New Horizons gets closest look yet at Pluto upi.com · 18h ago
- On This Day, July 14: NASA's New Horizons gets closest look yet at Pluto Yahoo · 18h ago
- New Horizons flew past Pluto so quickly that an encounter nine years in the making was effectively over within hours — but the data gathered during that brief passage took another 15 months to trickle home Space Daily · 18h ago broke it first
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