Event

July 2015 saw the culmination of decades of work to get a detailed look at a distant and intriguing world.  As of late 2016, the transmission of all data from the encounter was completed and the project is now turning its attention to the upcoming extended mission flyby of 2014MU69 on 2019 Jan 1.  The encounter was crucial for pinning down seemingly simple quantities such as size and albedo but opened the door to much more in-depth studies of the origin and evolution of Pluto and its constraints on the history of our solar system.  This talk will review some of these key constraints that can be derived from the surface morphology (eg, cratering record and geologic features).  I will also provide a look ahead at the upcoming extended mission flyby.