NASA Chief Keeps Saying 'Pluto Is a Planet' Because It's a Complex, Amazing World

The long-standing debate over Pluto's planethood recently got a public boost from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who said the world should definitely be a planet.

Observations from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in 2015 revealed that Pluto was far more complex than expected, with a probable underground ocean, organic materials (the potential precursors of life) on the surface and a multilayer atmosphere, Bridenstine said at the International Astronautical Congress in Washington late last month.

"I'm here to tell you, as the NASA administrator, I believe Pluto is a planet," Bridenstine said to applause from the audience as the conference opened to public attendance.

Related: Destination Pluto: NASA's New Horizons Mission in Pictures

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine spoke last month at the International Astronautical Congress, where he said that Pluto ought to be considered a planet. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The agency head made similar comments about Pluto in late August. But despite the object's complex characteristics, by the official definition of the International Astronomical Union, which oversees all planetary naming conventions, Pluto is not a planet. 

In 2006, a time when many other worlds of Pluto's size were being discovered around the solar system, the body was reclassified as a dwarf planet. The status change came out of a controversial 2006 vote by scientists, with which New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern and others do not agree.

The vote adopted an official definition of "planet" that includes a sticky phrase: Planets clear all debris in their orbit. Pluto doesn't fit that definition. Neither does Earth, for that matter, what with the thousands of near-Earth objects whizzing relatively close to our world. (The definition also requires that a planet be round and orbit the sun).

"I think the way you should define a planet is based on its intrinsic value," Bridenstine said. However, he did not suggest any concrete steps, beyond speaking with the community, for changing that definition. 

"I know there's a lot of scientists that agree with that assessment [of Pluto's planethood]," he added, "and we need to keep letting people know, because that New Horizons mission is amazing and it keeps giving us good information."

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Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace