Spaceflight Insider

News Archive / Tagged: Sputnik Planitia

  • Pluto may have deep, ancient underground ocean

    Laurel KornfeldApril 14th, 2020

    Two new studies of data collected by the New Horizons spacecraft during its 2015 Pluto flyby suggest the dwarf planet has a deep subsurface ocean that may have been present all 4.5 billion years of Pluto’s existence.

  • Pluto’s heart feature controls its winds

    Laurel KornfeldFebruary 20th, 2020

    Pluto’s iconic heart feature, named Tombaugh Regio, functions as a “beating heart” that controls the small planet’s winds and might even play a role in shaping its surface features.

  • Gas layer may be keeping Pluto’s subsurface ocean from freezing

    Laurel KornfeldMay 25th, 2019

    A layer of gas located beneath Pluto's icy shell could be keeping the dwarf planet's subsurface ocean from freezing, according to a new study.