Those of us who were in school prior to 2006 would be able to recite an acronym or saying that lists the order of the planets in our solar system, such as "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Peaches".
That old saying officially became outdated in 2006, when the final planet in that saying, Pluto, was officially declassified by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), and was thus no longer considered a planet.
Pluto was always considered a "dwarf planet," and in their triennial meeting in 2006, the IAU determined that for an object to be classified as a planet, it must orbit around the sun, it must be big enough that its gravity pulls it into a spherical shape, and must be big enough for its gravity to clear any objects of similar size in its orbit around the sun.
Pluto's failure to meet the third qualification was what cemented its declassification.
As one might expect, not everyone was thrilled with this decision.
Among them was a 10-year-old girl, identified by FOX10 Phoenix as Kaela.
So determined was Kaela for Pluto to be recognized as a Planet again that she even wrote to NASA, urging them to consider it, in a letter that quickly started making the rounds on X (formerly Twitter):
@@latestinspace/X
Kaela justified her belief that Pluto deserved to be a planet again with three reasons:
"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."
Though Kaela's letter was directed to NASA, and not the IAU, which declassified Pluto in 2006, she did acknowledge that it might not be their decision to make, but that its reclassification would make her and her friends very happy.
While Kaela apologized for any grammatical errors her letter included, those who read it likely overlooked them, and were far more impressed by the 10-year-old's impressive knowledge of the former planet:
"Pluto is a dwarf planet."
"Pluto is located in the Kuiper belt."
"Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh."
"Pluto is smaller than earth's moon."
"Pluto has five known moons."
Kaela signed off her letter with a sweet "thank you, NASA, bye!"
Kaela's letter melted the hearts of X users, many of whom wholeheartedly supported her campaign:
Kaela's letter also caught the attention of Homer Hickam, a former NASA engineer and author of the popular memoir Rocket Boys, later adapted into the critically acclaimed film October Sky:
More significantly, though, NASA chief administrator Jared Isaacman also read Kaela's letter and even hinted that her request might not be in vain:
Isaacman's response was met with almost as much happiness and excitement on X as Kaela's letter was:
It was reportedly a visit to the planetarium that made Kaela wish Pluto would be reclassified, and she told Fox10 Phoenix that if her dream becomes a reality, the world should celebrate with "free ice cream for all."
Of course, as previously noted, it is up to the IAU, and not NASA, to ultimately determine whether or not Pluto is a planet.
However, with Jared Isaacman on her side, this could very well be a wish that might actually come true.
