In 2006, NASA launched the New Horizons mission to explore the far edge of the Milky Way. This (TUE) morning, the spacecraft finally reaches its closest approach to Pluto and is sending back the best pictures we've ever seen. The study of Pluto actually started in 1930. That's when Clyde Tombaugh, a farmer from Burdett, Kansas, discovered the dwarf planet. At the time, he was working as an intern at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. People around the world are keeping track of the New Horizons mission -- among them is Doug Tombaugh, of Kansas City -- Clyde Tombaugh's nephew. KPR's J. Schafer recently spoke to him about his famous uncle. Doug said his uncle couldn't afford to go to college, so he started teaching himself about astronomy on the family farm in central Kansas.
That's Doug Tombaugh, of Kansas City, the nephew of Clyde Tombaugh, the man who discovered Pluto. He was speaking with KPR's J. Schafer. After traveling 3 billion miles for nine-and-a-half years, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flies by Pluto this (TUE) morning. Tucked away on board the craft, inside a small canister, are some of the cremated remains of Clyde Tombaugh.
