New Horizons

New Horizons — spacecraft, shown live in Cosmoscope, a real-time 3D map of the universe.

Gave humanity its first close look at Pluto in 2015, revealing nitrogen glaciers and a heart-shaped plain. It is still flying outward, studying the Kuiper Belt from inside it.

Launched
19 Jan 2006
Status
Active — exploring the Kuiper Belt

Seeing New Horizons in real time

Cosmoscope draws New Horizons on its real trajectory, from mission ephemeris rather than an artist's impression. Open the live 3D view to see where New Horizons is right now, how far it has travelled from the Sun, and how long its radio signal takes to reach Earth. Scrub the timeline to replay the route that took it there.

Interactive universe A living map of the solar system
Interactive universe
Waking the solar system…