More than 11,000 people have signed an online petition to honor NASA's mission to Pluto and other denizens of the solar system's icy rim with a commemorative U.S. postage stamp — which is a fine way to celebrate the 82nd anniversary of Pluto's planetary coming-out party.
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| This concept art for a 2015 stamp celebrates NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Credit: Dan Durda / SwRI |
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Commemorative postage stamp issued on 1991 10 01 |
Pluto has been the subject of a lot of discussion since New Horizons was launched: In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union voted to classify the icy world as a "dwarf planet" rather than a major planet — a move that was widely seen as a demotion. March 13, the date on which Pluto's discovery was announced in 1930, has become known in some circles as "Pluto Day."
In 1991, a commemorative U.S. postage stamp described Pluto as not yet explored. Here is the caption present on the U.S. Stamp Gallery website:
Pluto, the smallest and most remote planet in our solar system, is one that is yet to be "explored" by U.S. spacecraft. Percival Lowell began the search for another planet which resulted in the Pluto's discovery by Clyde W. Tombaugh on February 18, 1930. The body was named for the mythological character Pluto, brother of Jupiter and Neptune. Pluto, the planet, has an orbit that brings it inside the orbit of the planet Neptune during the former's close approach to the Sun. Their actual orbital paths do not cross.
Sources:
- Alan Boyle, Final push for Pluto's postage stamp, Cosmic Log, Mar 12, 2012
- Pluto, U.S. Stamp Gallery
- USPS: Honor New Horizons and the Exploration of Pluto with a USPS Stamp, Change.org
