On board New Horizons are the ashes of Pluto's discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh, as the space probe approaches the planet that he spent his life and career studying.
Tombaugh, who grew up as a farm kid from Illinois, has been on board New Horizons all along for the 9-year trip to Pluto, with traces of his ashes encased in a capsule inside the spacecraft.
While astronomers are excited to analyse the dwarf planet, space fans, especially those in Illinois, are just proud of this monumental moment.
Tombaugh was originally a farmer, but according to his children, he always wanted to explore space and the contents of other planets. To do this without a lot of money for schooling, he built his own telescopes, Slash Gear reported.
He did not have much on his resume, except for his passion for astronomy. Tombaugh showed Lowell astronomers his drawings of Jupiter and Mars, which he collected using his self-made telescopes. Tis led to them offering him a job monitoring the Planet X Project, Chicago Tribune reported.
Tombaugh would go on to become the man responsible for finding Planet X, which would receive the name Pluto, on Feb. 18, 1930, bringing the universe's story into a new chapter.
New Horizon is set to have its closest encounter with Pluto on July 14.
Read more of HNGN's articles below to find out about the other surprises on board New Horizons.
