Pluto journey marks ‘human history’

New Horizons, the fastest spacecraft ever flown, made history yesterday as it shot past Pluto at more than 48,280kph, taking pictures and collecting scientific data.

During the fly-by, the first close encounter with Pluto ever achieved, the American probe passed within 12,500km of the mysterious world.

At the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, mission control staff and visitors clapped, cheered and waved American flags, chanting “USA, USA” in an outpouring of patriotic emotion.