The decision caused outrage among many members of the public who had grown up with nine planets, and among some astronomers who pointed out that only 4 per cent of the IAU's 10,000 members took part in the vote. The governors of Illinois saw the decision as a snub to Pluto's discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh, who was born in the state.

Is Pluto a planet after all?

It is still a planet...and an interesting destination.

It is still a planet...and an interesting destination.

When are you leaving Dan..? ;-)

It is still a planet...and an interesting destination.

When are you leaving Dan..? ;-)

As soon as my ship comes in.

Maybe You could catch It with a Saturn V ........

Maybe You could catch It with a Saturn V ........

I read somewhere that they could not even build a Saturn V today.
Something about the blueprints for it being locked away in an ancient computer
format that they can no longer access.

Regards, Bill

Actually the problem is Apollo systems are old 60's technology ......

Actually the problem is Apollo systems are old 60's technology ......

Thanks for that Space.com link. Very interesting !

I still say that, if they can produce the microfilm and,

we get the German’s to create a clone of Wernher von Braun.

Remember ‘The Boy’s from Brazil ?

We will be able to recreate the mighty Saturn V !


Regards, Bill

I've said it before, somewhere else. It's not a planet.
Look up the evolution of definitions surrounding terms in calculus and you'll see why a change in definitions, and thus a classification of Pluto, does not bother me.
The character of that put forth the revision does not matter; what matters is the ability of the definitions to adequately describe what is observed and further communication between fellow astronomers. It is not to satisfy a discoverer, a state's governor, Disney etc. ... .

You can call it what you like, as I'm sure the residents of Pluto call our planet what they like :p

It's a planet...or it's round sphere in space far too large to fit in your garage.

Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System (after Eris) and the tenth-largest body observed directly orbiting the Sun. Originally classified as a planet, Pluto is now considered the largest member of a distinct population called the Kuiper belt.

Like other members of the Kuiper belt, Pluto is composed primarily of rock and ice and is relatively small: approximately a fifth the mass of the Earth's Moon and a third its volume. It has an eccentric and highly inclined orbit that takes it from 30 to 49 AU (4.4–7.4 billion km) from the Sun. This causes Pluto periodically to come closer to the Sun than Neptune.

Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, are sometimes treated together as a binary system because the barycentre of their orbits does not lie within either body.The International Astronomical Union (IAU) {Boo hiss !!} has yet to formalise a definition for binary dwarf planets, and until it passes such a ruling, Charon is classified as a moon of Pluto. Pluto has two known smaller moons, Nix and Hydra, discovered in 2005. Like Uranus, Pluto rotates on its "side" relative to its orbital plane, and the Pluto-Charon system does also.