Photo: NASA
And it’s only going to be a 9.5 year, three-billion-mile trip. According to Astronomy.com, NASA recently made the official call: there’s snow (or at least icy mountain ranges) on Pluto.
Does this mean we can go skiing? You probably wouldn’t want to because the snow might be be too “hard-packed,” New Horizon team member Fran Bagenal mentioned. Also, it’s not like there’s an incredible temperature or atmospheric difference or anything.
In all seriousness, New Horizon’s spacecraft mission was a huge success. NASA just hit a huge milestone in discovering the outer solar system, with more information coming through the pipeline. As of now, the spacecraft has captured some awesome detailed images of Pluto and its moon, Charon, revealing craters, dark spots, and that aforementioned snow.
Photo: NASA
According to Kelsi Singer of the New Horizon, it’s likely that the snow would be much different than on earth because the temperature is so much colder. “It would be quite friction-y, like sand,” she claims.
Regardless of our possible skiing adventures in the future, it’s very exciting to see such a discovery on Pluto. This opens up the possibility of water and other elements on planets that have not been explored yet. Per a report by News.com.au, NASA is preparing for the next mission to Europa, the sixth largest moon in the solar system. This mission will be in 2020 with the hopes of discovering if its global ocean is inhabitable. Hopefully it is and hopefully we’ll find some crazy interstellar barrels.
