Direct From Pluto: First Encounter

After a nine-year journey to Pluto, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is on the verge of delivering the first up-close images of the mysterious dwarf planet. Pluto: First Encounter Chronicles the drama of a quest that will bring the once 9th planet into focus, shattering all we have known and perhaps giving it new status within the Universe. Direct From Pluto reveals the latest photos, expert analysis, and behind-the-scenes action at mission control as the New Horizons mission finally reaches Pluto. "Science Channel viewers will see the very first close-up images of Pluto's surface and its moons, and learn more as leading experts discuss the previous planet's status as well as uncover some surprising research. Launched on Jan. 19, 2006, New Horizons set a speed record by reaching the moon in just nine hours -- 10 times faster than any Apollo mission. Still, it took almost a decade for the piano-sized spacecraft to travel the more than 3 billion miles (5 billion kilometers) to reach Pluto, where it is set to make its closest approach on July 14, completing the initial reconnaissance of the classical solar system. Science Channel's "Direct from Pluto" was on site to go behind the scenes at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland, home to New Horizon's control, during the flyby, while also exploring the history of Pluto's discovery and reclassification as a dwarf planet. In addition to being at APL for the flyby, the special filmed interviews at the Dwarf Planet Pride Day in Seattle and at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where Pluto was discovered in 1930.