New Horizons Flyover of Pluto

Using actual New Horizons data and digital elevation models of Pluto and its largest moon Charon, mission scientists have created flyover movies that offer spectacular new perspectives of the many unusual features that were discovered and which have reshaped our views of the Pluto system – from a vantage point even closer than the spacecraft itself.

This dramatic Pluto flyover begins over the highlands to the southwest of the great expanse of nitrogen ice plain informally named Sputnik Planitia. The viewer first passes over the western margin of Sputnik, where it borders the dark, cratered terrain of Cthulhu Macula, with the blocky mountain ranges located within the plains seen on the right. The tour moves north past the rugged and fractured highlands of Voyager Terra and then turns southward over Pioneer Terra -- which exhibits deep and wide pits -- before concluding over the bladed terrain of Tartarus Dorsa in the far east of the encounter hemisphere.

Digital mapping and rendering were performed by Paul Schenk and John Blackwell of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.

[caue]

I would love to see an actual film, not a 3D render....

[ksk_]

I always used to wonder from my childhood how Pluto looks like...
It's awesome. Thank you NASA.

[wrvqecv]

that feeling when u realize how far this planet is and what we have accomplished....AMAZING

[nikosvid]

I think that an unedited photography/video would be preferable to this one.

[DanielVerberne]

Fascinating stuff. Amazing how integrating imagery with elevation data can bring the static images to life like this.

[villanuevaechevarriafranci]

Thanks NASA, i waited for 10 years to see these images, i was 14 when New Horizons was launched and when it gets Pluto i was 23, i am so thankfull to see these!

[ZZMonkeysUncleZZ]

This honestly makes Pluto look terrifying. I would have liked to have seen it scaled and coloured as close to accurately as possible, though.

[_N_O_X_O_N_]

Seeing this makes me appreciate Earth even more!

[jayque]

This is amazing! A true testament of our ability as explorers. Its sad Tombaugh didnt live to see this.

[chachi_luna]

dang, Id love to have this as a screen saver!!!!

[BigSimpin]

Would it really be that bright so far away from the sun? Looks like a artistic rendition to me. Like a computer model

[oaktadopbok]

Absolutely amazing! Kudos to the mission scientists who worked on this.

[videowilliams]

Hard not to read those final ranges as organic, even pine-clad, as they slip into the darkness at the climax of the flight. This trip goes well with Star Trek music as we move from lunar wasteland through snowy uplands into alien formations. It's mesmerizing @_@ And it makes me hungry for ice cream (1:09 to 1:20).

[DarthGTB]

ok, so this is not real footage, am I correct? This is a rendered digital model with exaggerated landscape features for making them more visible.

It would be quite interesting to see both the original (if this is a treatment directly over a video taken by the spacecraft. If not, do the same work, but maintaining the correct landscape) and this video together, so we can see how it is in reality in one video and where are the main features in the other.

[IARRCSim]

A flyover matching the perspective of New Horizons and snapping out each photo it took as its camera pointed at various points on Pluto and its moons would be nice too. The animation would be like a minidocumentary of what the probe actually did

[baranches]

Breathtaking. Many thanks for this work!

[MauricioA]

Thanks to the people of Nasa for continuing the exploration of the solar system despite all the difficulties.

[skyhunk]

Holy moley!! Incredible video. What an amazing place.

[Merlin]

*This Pluto flyover CGI is neither fake nor indisputable*
It remains IMO highly informative yet would be even more if accompanied with a couple of intelligently selected and (as far as possible) UNPROCESSED original images, as poor as they necessarily are (see below).
Mon 07 Aug 2017 10:30 GMT, edited (had forgotten the Mariner 4 ref) 10:43

[CCGWRLD]

I just checked out your video, keep it up and stay blessed !!!