--- title: Pluto: NASA Scientists Want to Make It a Planet Again description: A team of NASA scientists is trying to make Pluto a planet again. The group has proposed changing the definition of a planet canonical: https://time.com/4677365/pluto-planet-nasa-alan-stern/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-21T19:04:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:44:30.661Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA Scientists Are Trying to Make Pluto a Planet Again og:description: The group wants to redefine what constitutes as a planet og:url: https://time.com/4677365/pluto-planet-nasa-alan-stern/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1bda0591d5001ce8/6988bb32ab6d77aa676aceda/pluto.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: New Horizons Nears July 14 Flyby Of Pluto og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA Scientists Are Trying to Make Pluto a Planet Again twitter:description: The group wants to redefine what constitutes as a planet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1bda0591d5001ce8/6988bb32ab6d77aa676aceda/pluto.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Group of NASA Scientists Is Trying to Make Pluto a Planet Again  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 21, 2017 7:04 PM UTC  In this handout provided by NASA, Pluto nearly fills the frame. The photo was taken on July 13, 2015, when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles from the surface. In this handout provided by NASA, Pluto nearly fills the frame. The photo was taken on July 13, 2015, when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles from the surface.NASA—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Feb 21, 2017 7:04 PM UTC A team of NASA scientists is [trying to make Pluto a planet again](http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2017/02/21/pluto-have-last-laugh-nasa-scientists-wants-make-pluto-planet-again/98187922/). The group — led by Alan Stern, who headed NASA’s mission to Pluto — has proposed changing the definition of a planet. If approved, it would reverse a decision the International Astronomical Union ([IAU](https://www.iau.org/)) made a decade ago to demote Pluto to a “dwarf planet,” _USA Today_ reports. Stern’s team has submitted a [proposal](http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2017/pdf/1448.pdf) to the IAU, which is tasked with defining and naming planetary bodies. The scientists, in simple terms, suggest a planet should be redefined as “round objects in space that are smaller than stars,” according to the newspaper. The IAU took away [Pluto’s planet status](http://time.com/4264106/pluto-five-things/) in 2006\. Stern’s team argues in their proposal that the planet definition the IAU adopted then is “flawed.” \[[_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2017/02/21/pluto-have-last-laugh-nasa-scientists-wants-make-pluto-planet-again/98187922/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4677365/pluto-planet-nasa-alan-stern/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4677365/pluto-planet-nasa-alan-stern/"},"headline":"A Group of NASA Scientists Is Trying to Make Pluto a Planet Again","datePublished":"2017-02-21T19:04:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:44:30.661Z","description":"The group wants to redefine what constitutes as a planet","url":"https://time.com/4677365/pluto-planet-nasa-alan-stern/","keywords":["Space","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1bda0591d5001ce8/6988bb32ab6d77aa676aceda/pluto.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1bda0591d5001ce8/6988bb32ab6d77aa676aceda/pluto.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New Horizons Nears July 14 Flyby Of Pluto","caption":"New Horizons Nears July 14 Flyby Of Pluto","creditText":"NASA—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4677365/pluto-planet-nasa-alan-stern/","name":"A Group of NASA Scientists Is Trying to Make Pluto a Planet Again"}}]}] ```