When it gets to Pluto, the New Horizons probe will have a packed schedule of observations A Nasa probe is to start photographing the icy world of Pluto, to prepare itself for a historic encounter in July. The New Horizons spacecraft has travelled 5bn km (3bn miles) over nine years to get near the dwarf planet. And with 200m km still to go, its images of Pluto will show only a speck of light against the stars. But the data will be critical in helping to align the probe properly for what will be just a fleeting fly-by. Pluto will be photographed repeatedly during the approach, to determine the probe's position relative to the dwarf planet, explained Mark Holdridge, from the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) in Baltimore. "We then perform a number of correction manoeuvres to realign our trajectory with the reference trajectory, thus ensuring we hit our aim point to travel through the Pluto system," he said. Read more http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30954673
