--- title: NASA Spacecraft New Horizons Crosses Neptune Orbit on Way to Pluto description: The New Horizons spacecraft is on its way to Pluto canonical: https://time.com/3176517/nasa-spacecraft-reaches-neptune-on-its-way-to-pluto/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-25T18:56:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:32.424Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA Spacecraft Crosses Neptune Orbit on Way to Pluto og:description: The New Horizons spacecraft is on its way to Pluto og:url: https://time.com/3176517/nasa-spacecraft-reaches-neptune-on-its-way-to-pluto/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb6c794e00e1cb54/6986a0bf361760a35d90d967/voyager-2-space-nasa10.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 640 og:image:height: 360 og:image:alt: voyager-2-space-nasa10 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA Spacecraft Crosses Neptune Orbit on Way to Pluto twitter:description: The New Horizons spacecraft is on its way to Pluto twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb6c794e00e1cb54/6986a0bf361760a35d90d967/voyager-2-space-nasa10.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Spacecraft Reaches Neptune on Its Way to Pluto > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=8119ac96-125b-444e-a621-bb364007878e&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Friday (1x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Justin Worland, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Senior leaders shaping the climate transition. An engaged audience of executives and decision-makers spanning operating companies, finance, policy, consulting, communications and media. ### TIME Future Proof: key statements * Future Proof is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Future Proof is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=8119ac96-125b-444e-a621-bb364007878e&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/subscribe?i=8119ac96-125b-444e-a621-bb364007878e&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's climate and energy newsletter? Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=8119ac96-125b-444e-a621-bb364007878e&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Phone Home: NASA's Call Center [Watch (HLS stream): Phone Home: NASA's Call Center](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uGQRvwuW.m3u8) (3:48)  _Published 2014-01-08. NASA has been communicating with astronauts and spacecraft via the Deep Space Network for over 50 years._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 25, 2014 6:56 PM UTC  A color image of Neptune's Great Dark Spot, accompanied by white high-altitude clouds taken from the Voyager 2 spacecraft. A color image of Neptune's Great Dark Spot, accompanied by white high-altitude clouds taken from the Voyager 2 spacecraft. NASA by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 25, 2014 6:56 PM UTC NASA’s Pluto-bound spacecraft has reached Neptune, officials said Monday. Passing through Neptune’s orbit is the last major crossing before the spacecraft, New Horizons, reaches its intended destination of Pluto. New Horizons is scheduled to be near Pluto on July 14, 2015\. In a coincidence of timing, the spacecraft’s crossing through Neptune’s orbit has occurred on the exact same day NASA’s Voyager 2 encountered Neptune 25 years ago. “It’s a cosmic coincidence that connects one of NASA’s iconic past outer solar system explorers, with our next outer solar system explorer,” Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, said in a statement. “Exactly 25 years ago at Neptune, Voyager 2 delivered our ‘first’ look at an unexplored planet. Now it will be New Horizons’ turn to reveal the unexplored Pluto and its moons in stunning detail next summer on its way into the vast outer reaches of the solar system.” New Horizons is the size of a piano and launched in January 2006\. It reached Neptune’s orbit in a record of eight years and eight months. If the spacecraft’s journey continues successfully, it will be the first probe to reach Pluto. ## Transcript >> On a rotating planet, a single antenna could never keep in constant contact with a space craft at any great distance. For that reason, the Deep Space Network has three sets of antennas located about 120 degrees apart around the globe; Madrid in Spain, Goldstone in California, and Canberra in Australia. At no point is the spacecraft vast in blackout. The Deep Space Network first went online in December of 1963 and has been in constant use ever since. At the moment, it's communicating with more than 30 Deep Space spacecraft. Spacecraft and human beings have been traveling to the moon for more than 50 years now and most of the images with the small exception of the ones hand carried by astronauts on traditional film were sent back through the Deep Space Network. >> Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed. >> The original and iconic scenes of Neil Armstrong stepping on the surface of the Sea of Tranquility, that came through the DSN. >> That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. But I was [ unk ] -[ unk ] images of Apollo 17 taking off. >> Three, two, one, ignition. >> We're on our way, Houston. >> And the first colored broadcast from the surface of the moon. >> Okay, Houston, I'm gonna [ unk ] chamber now. >> Roger, out. >> Richard Nixon may be the only president ever to communicate by the Deep Space Network when he spoke to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon in July of 1969. >> Hello Neil and Buzz. I'm talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House. >> Transmissions from the moon to earth take about a second and a half to get here, which is about as long as it takes light to travel to 239, 000 miles from here to there. For Mars, it's a different story. The distance between Mars and the Earth changes depending upon where they are in their orbits. And when the Curiosity Rover landed in 2012, the two planets were about 154 million miles apart, which means it took close to 14 minutes for a signal including an image to come from there to here. -[ unk ] confirmed. Proceed to Mars. >> Color images don't come in in full color. The color has to be added later as data's impact through different filters and at different frequencies is interrupted to add hues and shades to what's originally a black and white image. Over the course of time, the quality of the photographs has gotten strikingly sharper. The first images from Mars were grainy fly over shots. By the time Curiosity landed in 2012, the pictures that were coming home were in some cases almost indistinguishable from high- quality photography taken in the maizes and bad lands of the southwest. A network that was built in 1963 has been used by generations of spacecraft that couldn't even have been dreamed of back then. 50 years from now when the DSN is 100 years old, it may be the source of communications from human beings living and working on Mars. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3176517/nasa-spacecraft-reaches-neptune-on-its-way-to-pluto/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3176517/nasa-spacecraft-reaches-neptune-on-its-way-to-pluto/"},"headline":"NASA Spacecraft Reaches Neptune on Its Way to Pluto","datePublished":"2014-08-25T18:56:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:32.424Z","description":"The New Horizons spacecraft is on its way to Pluto","url":"https://time.com/3176517/nasa-spacecraft-reaches-neptune-on-its-way-to-pluto/","keywords":["Space","NASA","Pluto","New Horizons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb6c794e00e1cb54/6986a0bf361760a35d90d967/voyager-2-space-nasa10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb6c794e00e1cb54/6986a0bf361760a35d90d967/voyager-2-space-nasa10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"voyager-2-space-nasa10","caption":"Neptune's Great Dark Spot, accompanied by white high-altitude clouds as photographed by the Voyager 2 spacecraft.","creditText":"NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3176517/nasa-spacecraft-reaches-neptune-on-its-way-to-pluto/","name":"NASA Spacecraft Reaches Neptune on Its Way to Pluto"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Phone Home: NASA's Call Center","description":"NASA has been communicating with astronauts and spacecraft via the Deep Space Network for over 50 years.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uGQRvwuW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-01-08T18:10:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uGQRvwuW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3176517/nasa-spacecraft-reaches-neptune-on-its-way-to-pluto/","duration":"PT3M48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3176517/nasa-spacecraft-reaches-neptune-on-its-way-to-pluto/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```