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A spacecraft that is due to arrive at the former planet Pluto later this year is carrying the ashes of the astronomer who first discovered the icy world.

Clyde Tombaugh spotted the tiny gleaming object - which at 1,430 miles across is around two thirds the diametre of the Moon - as a dot on the edge of our solar system in 1930.

On his death in January 1997, Mr Tombaugh requested that his ashes be sent into space.

Clyde Tombaugh, pictured above in 1990, requested his remains be flown into space after his death in 1997 and his ashes are now approaching Pluto, the icy world on the edge of the solar system that he discovered

Now his remains are about to visit the world that he discovered, onboard a space probe that has been slowly flying through the solar system for the past nine years.

A small container holding his remains is fixed to the upper deck of the spacecraft, bearing the inscription: 'Interned herin are the remains of American Clyde W Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto and the solar system's "third zone".'

The £460 million New Horizon's mission will make him the first 'human' contact mankind has had with the dwarf planet.

However, at more than 3.67 billion miles from the Sun, it is an inhospitable place.

Temperatures on the surface plummet to -375 degrees F (-225 degrees C), cold enough for nitrogen and methane to freeze, and there is little atmosphere.

Nasa's New Horizon's spacecraft woke up last month after a long hibernation as it makes its final approach towards Pluto.

On 15 January it should finally be close enough to get a good look at Pluto and its moon Charon before beginning a fly past that will allow it to peer at the surface, taking measurements of the dust, gas and magnetic field that surround the former planet.

Alan Stern, the principal investigator on the mission and a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, in Boulder, Colorado, said: 'We're currently in the very earliest stages of Pluto approach.

'When the encounter begins we'll still be very far from Pluto, about 135 million miles (220 million kilometers).'

He added, though, that by May they hoped to receive images that were better than the grainy images obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Pluto is among the most controversial objects in the solar system. 

Since its discovery by Mr Tombaugh up until 2006, Pluto was considered to be the ninth planet in the solar system.

However, after the discovery of several other Pluto-sized objects in the far reaches of the solar system, astronomers decided to downgrade its status.

They eventually settled on describing Pluto, and other objects, like it as dwarf planets. Its official designation is now asteroid number 134340.

The artist's impression above shows the New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Pluto and its three moons

Nasa obtained these images from the Hubble Space Telescope in 2010 showing the coloured world of Pluto

However, scientists believe that Pluto is still vitally important and could hold a wealth of information about the far corners of our solar system and how it formed.

Pluto is thought to be composed mainly of frozen water ice, methane, nitrogen and rocks surrounding a metal and rock core.

New Horizons is carrying seven scientific instruments designed to take infrared and ultraviolet images of the planet, along with a high resolution camera.

A particle spectrometer and a dust detector will also be used to measure the solar wind and other particles that are found around the former planet.

Clyde Tombaugh, seen here in 1931, discovered Pluto in 1930 while working at the Lowel Observatory

The New Horizon's probe, seen above in this artist's impression, will use miniature cameras, radio science experiment, ultraviolet and infrared spectrometers to study the geology of Pluto and its moon Charon

This is one of the clearest images obtained of Pluto and its moon Charon by the Hubble Space Telescope

Dr Dennis Reuter, Nasa's co-investigator of the New Horizon's mission, said: 'While we have some idea of what we expect to see, I can't help but think that history will repeat itself, and we'll find ourselves astounded by something new, something we had never expected to see.

'I often think about the fact that the first time we've taken a close-up look at an object in the solar system, our understanding of that object immediately leaps forward. 

'From volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io, to hydrocarbon lakes on Saturn's moon Titan, to nitrogen geysers on Neptune's moon Triton, and innumerable other examples, we've seen remarkable things that have taught us much about what goes on in our sun's neighborhood.'

Pluto's surface, seen here in an artist's impression, is thought to be composed mainly of frozen ice and rock