New Horizons
Pluto and Kuiper-belt exploration.
Overview
New Horizons performed the first flyby of Pluto in July 2015, revealing a geologically young world with nitrogen-ice plains and complex haze layers. It went on to fly past the Kuiper-belt object Arrokoth in 2019 and continues outward through the Kuiper belt.
Key discoveries
- Sputnik Planitia nitrogen-ice plains on Pluto
- Evidence for ongoing geological activity on Pluto
- Arrokoth shown to be a contact-binary planetesimal
- New measurements of the outer heliosphere