--- description: NASA's New Horizon's spacecraft sent back images of the dwarf planet, featuring a heart title: See Closest Photo Yet of Pluto in NASA Spacecraft Flyby image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2901fff2ed690730/69885abb5f570ffd5fb1c6ed/pluto-heart-high-res.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See Closest Photo Yet of Pluto in NASA Spacecraft Flyby  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:42 AM CUTPublished: Jul 14, 2015 2:27 PM CUT  NASA  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:42 AM CUTPublished: Jul 14, 2015 2:27 PM CUT **Correction appended, July 14, 2015** After nine-and-a-half years, 3 billion miles and heart-stopping drops in communication, the moment has arrived: New Horizons, NASA’s spacecraft designed to explore the furthest reaches of our solar system, [passed Pluto at 7:49 a.m. ET on Tuesday](http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News%5FID=49503&linkId=15514645 "undefined"). “It should be a day of incredible pride,” Charlie Bolden, NASA’s chief administrator, announced on NASA TV amid jubilant applause and cheers. > [](https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/620343718650904576) The spacecraft’s travel was meticulously planned and on point: it arrived one minute before scheduled arrival and used a “36-by-57 mile window in space” to get to its destination—a feat NASA compared to “the equivalent of a commercial airliner arriving no more off target than the width of a tennis ball.” At its closest approach, New Horizons was about 7,750 miles above Pluto’s surface, approximately the distance between New York and Mumbai. New Horizons’ journey to Pluto had reached a turning point last week when [images](http://time.com/3945135/pluto-spots/ "undefined") of its nearing proximity to the planet arrived, offering scientists glimpses of a mysterious planet astronomers know very little about. With New Horizons’ approach, the United States has solidified its role as a [leader in space exploration](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/14/nasas-new-horizons-probe-makes-pluto-flyby-nine-years-after-leaving-earth "undefined"), becoming the first and only country to have sent a spacecraft to every planet in the solar system. The images of the dwarf planet are stunning and feature what many astronomy geeks have dubbed a heart in the lower hemisphere, perhaps a crater. > [](https://twitter.com/NASA/status/620936275336368128) > [](https://twitter.com/CosmicThespian/status/620949522416566272) New Horizons has thus far traveled 3 billion miles. **Correction**: The original version of this story misstated the time New Horizons passed Pluto on Tuesday. 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