Is Pluto A Planet? We'll Find Out

Pretty cool that we'll finally have a space mission to study Pluto and maybe some other Kuiper Belt objects. Excerpt from linked article:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Jan. 17, 2006 (AP Online delivered by Newstex) --
NASA prepared to launch an unmanned, piano-sized probe that will fly by Pluto,
the solar system's last unexplored planet, and also study a mysterious zone of
icy objects that surrounds the frosty planet at the outer edges of the planetary
system.

Bitchin'. I think space exploration is really cool. Some have argued that it's irrelevant and that we could better serve ourselves by studying things here on Earth. I guess that while it might be nice to devote NASA's entire budget to the study of cancer or some other such worthy cause, in truth, I believe knowing who and where we are is almost as important to the human spirit (but then that's just my opinion, and I don't have cancer, so . . . ).

Pluto is the only planet discovered by a U.S. citizen, though some astronomers dispute Pluto's right to be called a planet. It is an oddball icy dwarf unlike the rocky planets of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars and the gaseous planets of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

The whole article is cool and short. For instance, this will be the fastest space craft ever built, and it will be powered by, you guessed it - Plutonium. However, the truth about Pluto is that it is a planet and everyone who has heard the 2 Skinee J's knows that to be true. Don't dispute.

Kid H.

Link via: Instapundit.