Aerospace

{videobox}ydU-YrG_INk{/videobox}

Animated Flyover of Pluto's Icy Mountains and Plains

This simulated flyover of Pluto's Norgay Montes (Norgay Mountains) and Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plains) was created from New Horizons' closest-approach images. Norgay Montes have been informally named for Tenzing Norgay, one of the first two humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Sputnik Planum is informally named for Earth's first artificial satellite. The images were acquired by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager on July 14 from a distance of 48,000 miles, and features as small as a half-mile across are visible.