It's not about Pluto - Ceres got a promotion!
Ya the IAU could have done it sooner, but
1) I'm pleased they waited until after the launch of the New Horizons
mission. Reclassifying Pluto when this mission was being funded would
have probably killed it.
2) We have a new Dwarf Planet near us - Ceres! Ceres is of more value
to 'us' than Pluto ever could be. People could be living there in a
century - Pluto, no way.
.
Relevant Pages
- New Horizons Update - December 2005
... I have been working on seeing the United States fly a mission to Pluto ... flight hardware at the launch pad, we probably would not have had the ... * We conducted our final mission simulations and final spacecraft ...
(sci.space.news) - Re: NASA TV rewrites history?
... Well in any case "Xena" is not the name that Mike Brown submitted to ... >>Now my memory here may not be fully accurate, but I recall that NASA ... >>did used to want to do a Pluto mission using the same high powered Ion ...
(sci.space.policy) - Re: NASA TV rewrites history?
... This nickname would most likely be rejected by the IAU ... >Now my memory here may not be fully accurate, but I recall that NASA ... >did used to want to do a Pluto mission using the same high powered Ion ...
(sci.space.policy) - NASAs Pluto Mission Launched Toward New Horizons
... NASA'S PLUTO MISSION LAUNCHED TOWARD NEW HORIZONS ... Md., where the spacecraft was designed and built, received the first ...
(sci.space.news) - Re: They have to be kidding...
... >Pluto and the Kuiper Belt are the "highest priority" mission they have ... As for Pluto, there is a tight timescale before the atmosphere is rolled ... a high priority for a Kuiper Belt mission. ...
(sci.astro.amateur) |
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