| in Fun Facts About Science
New Horizons, the first vessel devoted to studying Pluto’s environment, is the size of a grand piano
The $700 million New Horizons probe is just the size of a grand piano, weighing in about 1,000 pounds. On Tuesday morning, it completed the nine-year, 3-billion-mile trek to Pluto, passing within 6,000 feet of the dwarf planet at 31,000 mph and taking the closest images of Pluto ever taken.