Getting your player ready...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — On the eve of NASA’s historic flyby of Pluto, scientists announced Monday the New Horizons spacecraft has nailed the size of the faraway icy world.
Measurements by the spacecraft set to sweep past Pluto on Tuesday indicate the diameter of the dwarf planet is 1,473 miles, plus or minus 12 miles. That’s about 50 miles bigger than previous estimates in the low range — but still a solar system runt.
Principal scientist Alan Stern, a planetary scientist at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, said this means Pluto has a lower density than thought, which could mean an icier and less rocky interior.
