(CNN) When NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto five years ago this week, it captured detailed views of the mysterious icy dwarf planet on the edge of our solar system. New Horizons launched in January 2006 and reached Pluto in July 2015, flying within 7,800 miles of Pluto's surface. And rather than being a quiet, frozen dwarf planet, data gathered by New Horizons revealed that Pluto is actually very active. Charon, the largest of Pluto's five moons, is so similar in size to Pluto that they orbit each other like a double planet system. The New Horizons team worked for 15 years to plan and execute this flyby and Pluto paid us back in spades!"

Source: CNN July 15, 2020 20:15 UTC