Joni Marie Gutierrez
From dKosopedia
Joni Marie Gutierrez is a New Mexico state representative who represents Dona Ana County. She made national news by introducing Joint House Memorial 54 which would declare, "a planet and that March 13, 2007 be declared 'Pluto Planet Day' at the legislature." In August 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) demoted Pluto from planet to dwarf planet. Pluto was first identiifed by Clyde Tombaugh the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. to first spot the object now known as 134340 in 1930.
Joint House Memorial 54
- "WHEREAS, New Mexico state university and Dona Ana county were the longtime home of Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto; and
- WHEREAS, Pluto has been recognized as a planet for seventy-five years; and
- WHEREAS, Pluto's average orbit is three billion six hundred ninety-five million nine hundred fifty thousand miles from the sun, and its diameter is approximately one thousand four hundred twenty-one miles; and
- WHEREAS, Pluto has three moons known as Charon, Nix and Hydra; and
- WHEREAS, a spacecraft called New Horizons was launched in January 2006 to explore Pluto in the year 2015.
Reference
- Robert Roy Britt. "New Mexico Lawmaker Petitions to Restore Pluto's Planet Status."
Space.com. March 9, 2007