New Horizons is a NASA space probe, launched in 2006, to study the dwarf planet Pluto, its moons and one or two other Kuiper belt objects, depending on which are in position to be explored.
On July 14, New Horizons will make its closest approach to Pluto. The spacecraft will take the first ever close-range photos and scientific readings of the former planet, possibly revealing rings, subterranean oceans, or even more moons. And it could provide the evidence needed to redefine what we consider a planet.
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If it has a stable orbit and a moon (or two or three), it's a planet.
Not quite! It's called a planet when it orbits the sun, has sufficient mass to be round, or nearly round, is not a satellite of another object, and has removed debris and small objects from the area around its orbit.
"If it has a stable orbit and a moon (or two or three), it's a planet."
So that leaves out Mercury and Venus then? Nice try.
Pluto is orders of magnitude not a planet, even calling it a dwarf planet is something of a compromise. Instead, it is simply a new kind of object called a Kuiper Belt Object.
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