Editor: Mark V. Sykes
Co-Editors: Matthew R. Perry, Alex Morgan
Email: pen_editor at psi.edu
Twitter: @pen2tweets
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LEADERS LETTER CONCERNING NEW HORIZONS
The following statement by the undersigned concerns the extended New
Horizons mission:
We the undersigned leaders view with alarm NASA's announced intention
to prematurely end the exploration of the solar system's Kuiper Belt
by New Horizons well before the spacecraft leaves the Kuiper Belt. We
also view with alarm NASA's intention to replace the New Horizons
science team with a new team.
New Horizons was built, launched, and paid for, at a cost of almost
$1B to the taxpayer, specifically to explore Pluto and the ancient
bodies of the Sun's Kuiper Belt. After a decade-long journey following
launch, it reached this distant, scientific wonderland in 2015, and
will remain there until 2028. Prematurely truncating the spacecraft's
exploration there, when it is still in the Kuiper Belt, is both a
fiscal and scientific waste, and sets a bad precedent for NASA.
The New Horizons team, particularly its science team and science
leadership team, have done a magnificent job at every stage of this
important and impressive project, and they continue to do so. Recent
discussions at NASA surrounding replacing this team, in part or in
whole, are both misguided and unfair, and would set a bad precedent
for NASA.
As the first and only planned spacecraft exploration of the Kuiper
Belt, New Horizons is a jewel in the Nation's and NASA's portfolio of
space leadership. We the undersigned ask NASA, the Administration, and
Congress to reverse course on both of these important matters.
James Adams
Past Deputy Director, NASA Planetary Science Division
Greg Autry
Past NASA Transition Team Member
Past White House Liaison at NASA
Jim Bell
Planetary Scientist
Past President, The Planetary Society
Geoff Briggs
Past Director, NASA Solar System Exploration Division
Bill Diamond
President, The SETI Institute
Ann Druyan
Author
Co-Founder, Carl Sagan Institute
Writer/Director/Producer "COSMOS"
Louis D. Friedman
Founding Executive Director, The Planetary Society
Richard Garriott
President, The Explorers Club
Lori Garver
Past Deputy Administrator, NASA
James L. Green
Past Director, NASA Planetary Science Division
Past Chief Scientist, NASA
Gerry D. Griffin
Past Director, NASA Johnson Space Center
Jeffrey Hall
Director, Lowell Observatory
Candice Hansen-Koharcheck
Planetary Scientist
Past Chair, American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences
Past Chair, NASA Outer Planets Assessment Group
Homer Hickam
Author
Past Member, NASA Advisory Council
Wesley T. Huntress
Past Director, NASA Solar System Exploration Division
Past Associate Administrator, NASA Office of Space Science
Past President, The Planetary Society
Sir Brian May
Astrophysicist and Lead Guitar of Queen
Todd May
Past Director, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Melissa McGrath
Planetary Scientist
Past Deputy Director, NASA Planetary Science Division
Past Chair, American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences
Bill Nye
CEO, The Planetary Society
William F. Readdy
Past Associate Administrator, NASA Office of Space Flight
Adam Riess
Nobel Laureate
Kathryn D. Sullivan
Past Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Past Vice Chair, National Science Board
Mark V. Sykes
President and CEO, Planetary Science Institute
Past Chair, American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences
Past Chair, NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group
Faith Vilas
Planetary Scientist
Chair, NASA New Horizons 2022 Planetary Mission Senior Review Panel
Past Chair, American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences
Past Chair, NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group
George Whitesides
Past Chief of Staff, NASA