New Horizons image of Neptune Moon Charon
Artist concept of Pluto from one of its moons surface

Pluto: Exploration

NASA's New Horizons was the first and, so far, the only mission to Pluto. It was also the first mission to explore the solar system's recently discovered "third zone," the region beyond the giant planets called the Kuiper Belt.

All NASA Science Missions

Location

Kuiper Belt

Classification

Dwarf Planet

DISCOVERED

1930

MISSIONS

1 - New Horizons

New Horizons

active Mission

New Horizons was the first spacecraft to explore Pluto and its five moons up close and, later, made the first close exploration of a Kuiper Belt Object.

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An artist's concept shows a spacecraft flying over the limb of Pluto with the moon Charon and the Sun in the background.
An artist's concept of New Horizons at Pluto with its largest moon Charon in the background.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
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