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> Except that it would end up as 40+ planets I think that would be fantastic personally. The semantics of "planet" vs. "asteroid" is clearly far more motivatio
by elblanco 16y ago
> Except that it would end up as 40+ planets
I think that would be fantastic personally. The semantics of "planet" vs. "asteroid" is clearly far more motivational in terms of sending spacecraft to study them, plot stories around them, etc.
A planet is a place (that one might go), an asteroid is just a marginally interesting hunk of rock.
(it's really just a matter of marketing to be honest)
- harshpotatoes 16y ago? I'm not sure I understand. Are talking about marketing the term for the general public, or in order to convince scientists to study them? As for the scientists, I think they already have an interest in studying asteroids, as evidenced by this list of NASA missions involving asteroids: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planets/asteroidpage.html http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planets/asteroidpage.ht... I really think this is more about organization than marketing.