Top NASA Scientist Who Sent the First Spacecraft to Pluto Wants the Moon Upgraded to Planetary Status

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The composite of enhanced color images of Pluto (lower R) and Charon (upper L), was taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft as it passed through the Pluto system. NASA photo.

Boston, Massachusetts, 23 Jumadil Awwal 1438/20 Februay 2017 (MINA) – A top NASA scientist who led a mission to send a spacecraft to photograph Pluto has said the moon should be upgraded to planet.

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Alan Stern, who headed the New Horizons project, which beamed back amazing photographs of the tiny planet which was first identified in February 1930.

In a lecture due to be delivered today in Boston, Massachusetts, Stern said the Earth’s moon should be upgraded to a planet, as well as two moons which orbit Jupiter and a further two circling Saturn.

Stern will tell the American Association for the Advancement of Science that Pluto should also be returned to planetary status after it was downgraded by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.

According to the Sunday Times, Stern, along with five of his colleagues believe the criteria for determining what constitutes a planet is obsolete and needs to be rewritten.

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On January 19, 2006 the New Horizons spacecraft was launched on its mission to photograph Pluto in a journey which took a decade.

The spacecraft is continuing out into the galaxy. The craft flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015.

New definition of planet

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According to Stern: ‘In the mind of the public, the word “planet” carries a significance lacking in other words used to describe planetary bodies… many members of the public assume that alleged “non planets” cease to be interesting enough to warrant scientific exploration.

‘A common question we receive is, “Why did you send New Horizons to Pluto if it is not a planet any more?” To mitigate this unfortunate perception, we propose a new definition of planet.

‘In keeping with both sound scientific classification and people’s intuition, we propose a geophysically based definition of planet that emphasises a body’s intrinsic physical properties over its extrinsic orbital properties.’

Stern and his team believe that orbiting other planets – not just orbiting the sun, could be used as a method of determining whether a moon could be upgraded. (T/RS05/RS01)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)