Will there be other missions to Pluto?

With the success of New Horizons, will the dwarf planet be a target for more spacecraft in the future?

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A false image of Pluto snapped by the New Horizons spacecraft on 14 July. Image Credit: NASA

A false image of Pluto snapped by the New Horizons spacecraft on 14 July. Image Credit: NASA

Currently, no new missions to Pluto have been announced, but even after the success of the New Horizons mission there is much more for us to learn about the dwarf planet.

In the future there will undoubtedly be more missions that will continue
to study Pluto. However, how long it will be until this reality comes to pass is difficult to judge. Space travel is an extravagant task and limited funding can restrict missions. Space agencies and private companies have to decide carefully where they most want to spend their budgets. Hopefully, as space technology improves and space travel becomes more commonplace we will be able to map our Solar System in intricate detail.

Answered by Zoe Baily at the National Space Centre

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