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ZA🌑 🪨 Pluto and Charon form a gravitationally locked binary system —
orbiting a shared barycenter located outside Pluto’s surface.
Observed during the New Horizons approach phase,
these navigation sequences (OPNAV) allowed precise trajectory correction
and refined orbital solutions prior to the historic 2015 flyby.
From interplanetary cruise to Kuiper Belt exploration,
New Horizons transformed Pluto
from a distant point of light
into a geologically complex world.
Data / Visualization: NASA / JPL / New Horizons Mission
#planetaryscience
#deepspaceexploration
#solarsystem
#nasa
#kuiperbelt
@zaireeofficial
