Subtitles section Play video
-
NASA has released stunning new images of Pluto， revealing the distant dwarf planet has blue
-
skies and regions of red water－ice. This is the latest in a number of remarkable
-
achievements and discoveries for NASA in the past year.
-
Kwon Jang－ho has the details. Blue skies － just like home.
-
These are the latest pictures of Pluto sent from the New Horizons space probe.
-
They show the particles in Pluto′s atmosphere dispersing sunlight to produce a hazy blue
-
sky. The unexpected discovery has stunned and delighted
-
NASA， with the probes principal investigator describing it as ′gorgeous.′
-
The color is helping with understanding the composition of the planet′s atmosphere.
-
Photos of exposed regions of red water ice have also been sent back， but NASA′s scientists
-
were at a loss to explain the intensity of their color， saying more research is needed.
-
New Horizons was launched in January 2006， and has traveled more than 3 billion miles
-
over 9 years， becoming the first probe to reach Pluto.
-
It is said to be in full working condition， and has been sending back breath－taking
-
pictures of the planet and its moon Charon since July.
-
NASA has had a remarkable year. Just two weeks ago， it announced the discovery
-
of flowing water on the surface of Mars， increasing the possibility of finding microscopic
-
life on the red planet. There was also the discovery of Kepler 452b
-
in July， nick－named Earth 2.0， the most Earth－like planet found till date as well
-
as the Rosetta Spacecraft that landed the Philae lander on the surface of a moving comet
-
last November. In recent years NASA has come under criticism
-
for high costs， failed programs and intangible benefits.
-
But with discoveries and pictures like these， it is helping to reawaken man′s imagination
-
and curiosity of the universe. Kwon Jang－Ho， Arirang News.
