But how about that New Horizons Pluto flyby, eh? Considerable consolation, for me. It’s incredible that the whole thing worked perfectly. Of course, it’s work perfectly or nothing in the deep space business, but that makes it no less incredible.
And what’s incredible to me personally, is that I got to see it. I was looking forward to it, but now that it’s happened I look back on my whole life, or most of it, where Pluto was barely more than a dot, an enigma. And now it is revealed in a blaze of glory.
I just watched ( belatedly ) the flyby news conference, and Alan Stern was on fire, I thought. After all that Pluto demotion business, he is exulting in this. He can barely contain himself. In fact he openly referred to Pluto as planet! ... if I’m not mistaken.
So like the song says, “You can’t always get what you want ...”
In fact he openly referred to Pluto as planet!
...
I think most planetary scientists still do. It was some sneaky astronomers who demoted it.
The Pluto flyby was great. I never thought I’d live to see it.