Nasa's spacecraft New Horizons soared past Pluto at 12:50 BST on 13 July
After a tense wait, its first post-flyby communication was received at 01:52 BST on 14 July
The probe's historic early pictures of Pluto included a close-up of mountains over 3,000m high
Both the dwarf planet and its giant moon Charon appear to have surprisingly active geology
A bright, heart-shaped region on Pluto's surface was named Tombaugh Regio after the planet's discoverer
Coming up at 13:15 BST there will be a briefing direct from the New Horizons operations centre - including an update on what the team received from the probe last night, before it went silent for the flyby.
You can watch using the "Live Coverage" tab above.
Quote Message“We have completed the initial reconnaissance of the Solar System, an endeavour started under President Kennedy more than 50 years ago and continuing to today under President Obama. It’s really historic what the US has done, and the New Horizons team is really proud to have been able to run that anchor leg and make this accomplishment.”
Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator
Email: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
Simon Briggs:
This and the Philae robotic European Space Agency lander that accompanied the Rosetta spacecraft which landed on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko are two of the most exciting solar system projects for ages.
As a follow-up to the email sent by Bruce Boatman, I am in total agreement with this, though in future any projects on a grander scale will require further international cooperation. One success story has been the International Space Station, but similarly more is needed.
Congratulations New Horizons!
Although we can't know for sure until later tonight when it "phones home" - according to its trajectory and its programme of movements, a spacecraft just made the first ever flyby of Pluto.
It shot past just 12,500km away - that's the diameter of Earth, or half the length of the Great Wall of China.
Image source, NASA/JHUAPL/SWRIA great deal of enthusiastic speculation is underway about what this breathtaking new image can tell us about Pluto.
BBC Sky At Night presenter Prof Chris Lintott and space journalist Emily Lakdawalla lead the way...
Nasa's New Horizons Instagram account appears to have shared that highly anticipated picture!
This, then, was Pluto as the probe prepared to barrel past and take its close-up measurements.
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Wow!
It won't be released until (hopefully) the Nasa briefing at 13:00 BST - but there is tantalising gossip about the last photo New Horizons snapped before the flyby...
New Horizons will only get within 12,500km of Pluto - so it would have to be a good shot to plant a flag.
But US patriotism is alive and well at the operations centre:
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What will you get done in the next hour?
New Horizons will travel a distance 1.2 times longer than the Earth's equator - taking historic pictures and measurements all the way...
One of the many weird and wonderful things about Pluto is the chaotic behaviour of the dwarf planet's moons.
About one hour ago, New Horizons took its best colour image of the rugby ball-shaped moon Nix.
We won't see that pic for days, weeks or months, depending on its position in the queue of data to be sent back to Earth.
But you can see Nix's peculiar motion in this computer simulation, which compresses four years into two minutes.
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The tumbling is caused by the strange nature of Pluto and Charon, which are effectively a double planet and share a common centre of gravity located in the space between them. The variable gravitational fields cause the smaller moons to spin erratically.
Scientists and media carb loading before the countdown
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Email: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
David Shaw , a proud Chelmsford resident, has been in touch to remind us that some UK tech is on board New Horizons:
The camera used on the spacecraft was produced at e2v in Chelmsford, Essex.
In fact, e2v, external also provided some of the sensors on Rosetta, the European Space Agency probe that sent us historic pictures of comet 67P last November (and continues to work as the comet approaches the Sun).
As the little probe hurtles closer and closer...
...it has been receiving (and retweeting) some celebrity endorsements!
That's right - New Horizons launched in January 2006.
It was 15 months earlier, in October 2004, that Donny had his most recent UK top 10 single, Breeze On By...
Email: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
Bruce Boatman:
It's missions like this, really pushing the bounds of our knowledge that inspire the human mind. Along with Philae, and the LHC, we need more interest and more funding in space exploration and science, especially in a world that is increasingly inward-looking.
When NASA funding was cut, the dreams and ambition of reaching the stars died. All power to the Pluto mission and Philae in breathing life into these dreams once again!
The cows in the nearby fields will be blissfully unaware but this tracking station near Canberra, Australia, will be one of the first places on Earth to receive signals and images from New Horizons...
Image source, Science Photo LibraryNew Horizons has made its final contact with Earth before the flyby - and set off to make history!
The probe's antenna is now facing away from us and for the next few hours it will be going through a pre-programmed series of manoeuvres.
Quote MessageOnly when New Horizons has its trove of images safely in its onboard memory will it call home again. This is not expected to happen until just after midnight (GMT) into Wednesday. It means there will be a long, anxious wait for everyone connected with the mission, as they hold out for a signal that will be coming from almost five billion km away.
Jonathan Amos, Science correspondent, BBC News
Expect more updates during the day however, as the mission controllers and people all over the world count down to the craft's historic encounter with Pluto!
The probe is now closer to Pluto than our Moon is to Earth. And closing fast - as the mission's official Twitter account makes clear...
This animation (by Dan Durda from the Southwest Research Institute) shows New Horizons from all sides - and gives you an idea of why the spacecraft is sometimes likened to a baby grand piano.
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Billy Joel, external , anyone?
If you're in the UK, turn on your TV (or click here) at 22:30 BST to watch Newsnight.
Our science correspondent Rebecca Morelle and producer Stuart Denman have been hard at work making a little film all about the New Horizons mission.
Tune in and join the excitement!
Charon is Pluto's biggest moon and the other big target of tomorrow's flyby.
Its dark polar region has been baffling scientists as it comes into focus.
The latest images also show some other features which look like craters and chasms.
If this is indeed what they are, the valleys would be longer and deeper than the Grand Canyon - quite something on a world less than 800 miles (1,200km) across.
Image source, NASA/JHUAPL/SWRIImages of Charon taken on Saturday