The New Horizons space probe, which launched back in January 2006, is about to make a close flyby of the dwarf planet Pluto. Until now, this tiny and very distant world remained largely unknown (even the Hubble Space Telescope couldn't reveal more than a fuzzy image). Even though closest approach won't be until next week (July 14), the space probe is already close enough to reveal features that have never been seen before, such as that it's color is a reddish brown (very much like Mars) with large dark spots along the equator, and its large moon Charon (which, unlike Pluto, is grey) has what appears to be a polar cap that's darker than the rest of the surface.
Pluto has remained one of the last unexplored worlds in our Solar System, but that will soon change. Who else is fascinated by what New Horizons is going to reveal about this distant dwarf planet?