The contingent pushing to make Pluto a planet again may have gained its most valuable ally: a six-year-old girl from Ireland who wrote a letter to NASA.
In 2006, Pluto was reclassified into a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union, bringing the planets of the solar system down to eight. The adorable six-year-old, however, wants to bring that number back up to nine.
The Girl Who Wrote To NASA To 'Make Pluto A Planet Again'
Six-year-old Cara O'Connor, who dreams of one day becoming an astronaut, wrote a letter to NASA urging the space agency to once again classify Pluto as a planet.
Cara wrote that she listened to a certain song with the lyrics of "bring Pluto back" at the end, and that was something that she "would really like to happen." The six-year-old girl then went into detail about how Pluto was bumped down into being a dwarf planet.
"I would really like it if everyone at NASA could please change your minds and make Pluto a planet again," Cara wrote. She said that she wants to discover her own planet that she will call Planet Unicorn and will like to visit all the "main planets," including Pluto.
"I am hoping that one day I can become an astronaut and work for [you] at NASA, but you need to fix this problem for me," wrote Cara before ending her letter with a wish that NASA would write back to her.
Cara's letter, of course, received a response. James Green, the director of the Planetary Science Division of NASA, wrote back to Cara, complimenting the six-year-old on her interest in Pluto.
"I hope that you will discover a new planet, and I trust that if you continue to do well in school we will see you at NASA one of these days," wrote Green, likely setting up Cara's life goals for the next couple of decades.
Will Pluto Become A Planet Again?
In February 2017, NASA released a proposal for new definition for planets that will increase the chances that Pluto will soon be reinstated as one.
Pluto has never been out of the minds of researchers, with a detailed animation based on the flyover by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 released in July 2017. In September last year, the International Astronomical Union also approved the official names of certain features on Pluto's surface.
The interest in Pluto may just be the first steps in bringing back its planetary status, but it would take a cold heart to deny Cara's request.
