LONDON: NASA received official confirmation on Tuesday night that its spacecraft had successfully completed its flyby of Pluto.
The vessel sent word of its achievement 4.8 billion kilometres to mission control back on Earth.
“This is a tremendous moment in human history,” John Grunsfeld, NASA’s science mission chief, said.
The confirmation of a successful mission came 13 hours after New Horizons passed within 12,400 km of the dwarf planet at 49,900 kph.Pictures from its closest approach should be available Wednesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, the spacecraft sent back the most detailed image of the dwarf planet yet.
Before the flyby, NASA posted the new image of Pluto to Instagram, as a “sneak peek.” The same image was posted to Twitter moments after the approach.
“Hello #Pluto! We’re at closest approach. Congrats to all!” the tweet said.
The approach was made after the spacecraft travelled roughly 7.5 billion kilometres in a journey that began nine-and-a-half years ago.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said the flyby is a historic first for mankind, as it is the first time a space mission has explored a world so far away.
“The exploration of Pluto and its moons by New Horizons represents the capstone event to 50 years of planetary exploration by NASA and the United States,” he said in a statement earlier Tuesday.
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