His wikipedia page also has an amusing quote on the origin on this mission: In August 1992, JPL scientist Robert Staehle called Tombaugh, requesting permission

His wikipedia page also has an amusing quote on the origin on this mission: In August 1992, JPL scientist Robert Staehle called Tombaugh, requesting permission to visit his planet. "I told him he was welcome to it," Tombaugh later remembered, "though he's got to go one long, cold trip." The call eventually led to the launch of the New Horizons space probe to Pluto in 2006.