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Today, Pluto is called a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet is round and orbits the sun just like the eight major planets. But unlike a planet, a dwarf planet does not have enough gravity to attract all of the space dust and tiny objects in its path.A dwarf planet also is much smaller than a planet, but it is not a moon.n 2006, NASA launched New Horizons, which is the first mission to Pluto. New Horizons is a spacecraft about the size of a piano that is flying to the outer edge of the solar system. The spacecraft will take nine years to reach Pluto. In 2015, New Horizons will spend more than five months studying Pluto and its moons.
Pluto is 2,304 kilometers (1,432 miles) at the equator, and is only about the size of Russia. Pluto only has a mass of about one 400th that of Earth. Pluto is composed of several different materials, Pluto's thin crust is simply composed of ice, Pluto's mantel is quite rich in water and ice, Pluto's large core is probably about 70% rock, and 30% water ice.