Launched January 16th, 2006, NASA’s New Horizons space probe was sent out for the first ever reconnaissance of Pluto, its moons and the region of space just beyond the planets that make up the Kuiper Belt.

Today the probe flew past Pluto at 14 kilometres per second and took the most detailed image of Pluto yet (which you can view in the header image).

New Horizons isn’t out just collecting new wallpaper images, though, it will also collect data that will give insight into how Pluto and its moons (which are classified as “ice giants”) have evolved.

For the aspiring astronauts among us, the information sheet about New Horizons will detail what exactly comprises the probe, which includes a sensor called PEPSSI that records the density of plasma in Pluto’s atmosphere.

With the exploration of Pluto, every body in our local solar system will have been visited by mankind in some capacity.

What’s next?

So what’s next for the aptly-named probe? After it has broadcasted back more information on Wednesday, it will continue past Pluto and into the Kuiper Belt.

You can follow along at home on NASA’s Twitter and Instagram accounts which are putting up information and imagery as soon as they are available, and you can watch a livestream of the journey here:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX9I1KyNa8M]

Speaking of social media, space exploration is once again in the public eye thanks to New Horizons. Most social media channels are filled up with talk of it and the image of Pluto being passed around (especially on Twitter with the #PlutoFlyby hashtag).

Just think: the children and teens looking at this on the internet today could well comprise the next generation of scientists and astronauts at NASA that will finally get us off of this planet. What a thought.

[Source & Image – NASA]