Pluto approaching: New Horizons' scientist answers 4 questions

New Horizons' Ralph Instrument Scientist Dennis Reuter speaks up today about th eminent approach of the mission to Pluto. Also speaking on his position with the Goddard Space observatory, Reuter tapped into Pluto and the exploration of the Kuiper Belt – our solar system's "last frontier." Reuter spoke up about the data collection this mission will execute, seeking out information on Pluto's chemical and atmospheric makeup using the Ralph spectrometer. This mission's apex will be reached tomorrow at 11:50 UTC – that's 4:50 AM Pacific Time, 7:50 AM Eastern Time.

Reuter's first answer is to the question of whether Pluto is a planet or a dwarf. He suggests "I don't think Pluto cares what it's called." He goes on to suggest that what's important is that they're heading out to explore "a part of the solar system that's never been explored in SITU before, in place before. That's what's important."

Reuter goes on to remind us that this is not just a mission to Pluto, but to the Keuiper Belt, a place in our solar system left over from its birth time. Undisturbed and original.

"Pluto and the Keuiper Belt represent a new object in the solar system that's never really been explored," said Reuter, "We've taken close-up images of all the planets and many of the moons of the planets, but the Keuiper belt, that belt that's a large area out there, really has never had a spacecraft visit it."

"Pluto is the first of that – hopefully others will follow."

This isn't the end! It's just the next step we take outward, out into the far reaches of space. Now that we've gotten a craft with these sorts of advanced instruments out this far into space, we can traverse further planes. We can find more planets, and photograph them with high-powered cameras!

Stay tuned as we watch our approach to Pluto tomorrow morning, and stick around SlashGear's Science tag portal for more!