Almost 20 years ago, Pluto was downgraded from a planet by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The IAU had finally come to an agreement on the definition of a planet, and Pluto no longer met the criteria, which included clearing its orbital neighborhood. What that means is a true planet dominates its orbit by absorbing, ejecting, or controlling other objects nearby. Earth does this; Pluto does not.
Pluto is surrounded by similar bodies and rather than add a slew of new planet to our solar system, the astronomers decided to create a new classification, the dwarf planet. This threw off legions of children who learned the planetary acronym MVEMJSUNP, "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas."
But in the wake of the amazing Artemis II mission, Pluto might regain its title as planet thanks to a little girl named Kaela.
Dear @NASA. From 10 year old Kaela. She is mailing to you today. Too cute not to post. She and her family are friends of ours. #bringplutoback pic.twitter.com/goPIb55iQG
— Mike's Weather Page (@tropicalupdate) April 9, 2026
Kaela's letter read:
Please make Pluto a planet again. I really want it to be a planet again. Here are some reasons that Pluto should be a planet again.
1. It is part of our solar system and used to be a planet.
2. It is a dwarf planet and deserves to be an actual planet.
3. It might make a lot of people happy.
It might not be your choice but if it is please please please make it a planet. It would make me very, very, very happy. If you can't make it an actual planet please consider it a planet. And I'm sorry if my handwriting or spelling is hard to read. Anyway, it will make me and my friends very happy. Here are some facts to prove I know about Pluto.
1. Pluto is a dwarf planet.
2. Pluto is located in the Kuiper Belt.
3. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.
4. Pluto is smaller than Earth's moon.
5. Pluto has five known moons.
Thank you NASA. Bye!
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NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman saw Kaela's letter and told her "we are looking into this."
Kaela - We are looking into this.
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) April 9, 2026
Pluto was a planet for years.
You will reach legendary status if you do this.
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) April 9, 2026
Yes, he wll.
Make it happen. Make Pluto great again.
— @Matthew Betley (@MatthewBetley) April 9, 2026
MPGA.
Pretty please?
— Natalie F Danelishen (@Chesschick01) April 9, 2026
With sugar on top?
As petty as it sounds I’m all for this just to make Neil Degrasse Tyson angry https://t.co/BoOJnModWz
— Emily Zanotti 🦝 (@emzanotti) April 9, 2026
That's not petty at all.
I think it should become a planet again simply because it’s the largest binary object https://t.co/YaRn70QSYG pic.twitter.com/UW6nI8zMRf
— Truthful🛰️ (@Truthful_ast) April 10, 2026
A perfectly reasonable position to hold.
A letter by a little girl named Kaela proposes to make Pluto a planet again. It caught Jared's attention. This is too cute. https://t.co/LD9E6E61hs
— Brooke Edwards (@brookeofstars) April 9, 2026
It's very cute.
The Artemis II crew is set to splash down this evening, around 8:07 p.m Eastern time, off the coast of San Diego.
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