10 Years Later: First Encounter with Pluto

It's been 10 years since the first historic encounter with Pluto! What would it be like to actually land on Pluto? This video was made from more than 100 images taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft over six weeks of approach and close flyby in 2015. The video offers a trip down onto the surface of Pluto -- starting with a distant view of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon -- and leading up to an eventual ride in for a "landing" on the shoreline of Pluto's informally named Sputnik Planitia. After a 9.5-year voyage covering more than five billion kilometers, New Horizons flew through the Pluto system on July 14, 2015, coming within 12,500 kilometers of Pluto. Carrying powerful telescopic cameras that could spot features smaller than a football field, New Horizons sent back hundreds of images of Pluto and its moons that show how dynamic and fascinating their surfaces are. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI