Flyover Video Reveals Pluto’s Bizarre Terrain
Using images taken and data collected during a flyby, scientists have been to visualize what it would look like to fly over the planet.
While human beings have high hopes to visit Mars, one place it's highly unlikely we'll ever visit is the ex-planet (now officially classified as a dwarf planet) Pluto.
A new video using images from the NASA New Horizons spacecraft allows viewers to experience what it would be like to fly over the rocky mass. The spacecraft took over 100 images over the course of six weeks, including its closest flyby during summer 2015.
To make the images appear like a seamless video, the mission's scientists used data and elevation models to create additional frames. Surface colors were then enhanced to bring out detail. The resulting video shows the dwarf planet's mountains and canyons as well as nearby moon Charon.
According to a press release, the data collected to create the visualizations represent the most detailed and comprehensive view of Pluto and Charon to date.
Following the Pluto flyby, the New Horizons spacecraft flew deeper into the Kuiper Belt to an object known as 2014 MU69. It's considered one of the solar system's building blocks, and the craft is expected to reach the region by January 2019.
Read more about the five amazing discoveries New Horizons made during its Pluto flyby.
