After nine years and a journey of 5 billion kilometres, NASA’s New Horizons probe is to become the first spacecraft to visit the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The piano-sized craft will also study the Kuiper Belt, the mysterious zone believed to contain materials formed at the birth of the solar system. E&T news has previously reported on New Horizons’ computer glitches and Nasa’s tweaks to guide the craft on its Pluto approach. Click on the graphic for an expanded view.   Continue reading #NewHorizons probe pings back first pics of Pluto – an annotated infographic