I have my hopes, & very distinct ones, too, of one day getting cerebral phenomena such that I can put them into mathematical equations: in short, a law or laws for the mutual actions of the molecules of the brain (equivalent to the law of gravitation for the planetary & sideral world).
Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it's a challenge to the moral imagination.
The Kuiper Belt is the largest mapped structure in our planetary system, three times as big as all the territory from the sun out to Neptune's orbit.
As a planetary scientist, I don't know what else to call Pluto: It's big and round and thousands of miles wide.
I actually started my career in planetary science with a master's thesis on Pluto.
We really just didn't realize the diversity of planetary types in our solar system. Pluto looked like a misfit because it was the only one we saw. And just as a Chihuahua is still a dog, these ice dwarfs are still planetary bodies. They're large enough to make themselves round by self gravity, and they surely pass the test of planethood.
If you go to planetary science meetings and hear technical talks on Pluto, you will hear experts calling it a planet every day.
New Horizons isn't just visiting Pluto; it's visiting this entire region. Whatever it finds, this will be a signal moment for planetary exploration - the capstone to our first reconnaissance of the planets of our solar system.
The big lesson of planetary science is when you do a first reconnaissance of a new kind of object, you should expect the unexpected.
I've been on 26 space missions; they range from suborbital to orbital to shuttle experiments to planetary missions.
