It's showtime for Pluto; prepare to be amazed by NASA flyby

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Pluto, reveal thyself, and Earthlings, enjoy the show.

On Tuesday, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will sweep past Pluto and present the previously unexplored world in all its icy glory.

It promises to be the biggest planetary unveiling in a quarter-century.

The curtain hasn't been pulled back like this since NASA's Voyager 2 shed light on Neptune in 1989.

Now, it's little Pluto's turn to shine way out on the frigid fringes of our solar system.

New Horizons has traveled 3 billion miles over 9 1/2 years to get to this historic point.

The fastest spacecraft ever launched, it carries the most powerful suite of science instruments sent on a scouting and reconnaissance mission of a new, unfamiliar world.

Guarantees principal scientist Alan Stern: "We're going to knock your socks off."

The size of a baby grand piano, the spacecraft will come closest to Pluto at 6:49 a.m. Tuesday.

That's when New Horizons is predicted to pass within 7,767 miles of Pluto.

Fourteen minutes later, the spacecraft will zoom within 17,931 miles of Charon, Pluto's jumbo moon.

For the plutophiles, it will be cause to celebrate.