NASA chief claims Pluto is a planet - 13 years after it was declassified

If you were born before the early 2000s, it’s likely you were taught about the nine planets in our solar system - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

But in 2006, textbooks around the world had to be re-written, after scientists voted to reclassify Pluto as a ‘dwarf planet.’

Now, NASA chief Jim Bridenstine has revealed that he believes Pluto should be classified as a planet after all.

Speaking at a FIRST Robotics event, Mr Bridenstine said: “Just so you know, in my view, Pluto is a planet.

“You can write that the NASA administrator declared Pluto a planet once again. I’m sticking by that, it’s the way I learned it and I’m committed to it.”

From its discovery in 1930 all the way until 2006, Pluto was classified as a planet.

However, Pluto was always considered a bit of an oddball, due to its rather strange orbit, which was far from circular.

Jim Bridenstine, NASA’s administrator (REUTERS)

In 1992, scientists started to discover objects in the Kuiper Belt, many of which were small and cold, much like Pluto.

Then, in 2005, astronomers discovered Eris, a body that was even larger than Pluto, raising questions about whether Eris was also a planet, or if Pluto wasn’t one after all.

Speaking to space.com back in 2005, Brian Marsden, a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) who was tasked with deciding Pluto’s fate, said: “Every time we think some of us are reaching a consensus, then somebody says something to show very clearly that we're not.”

NASA video soars over Pluto’s mountains and icy plains

Finally, after over a year of debate, the decision was made to re-classify Pluto as a dwarf planet, due to new rules that said planets must ‘clear the neighbourhood around its orbit.’

Since Pluto’s orbit is oblong and overlaps that of Neptune, it was disqualified as a planet.