Even as the IAU was officially demoting Pluto, NASA was sending the first probe intended to study it. The history of our surprisingly fond relationship with what was originally known as “Planet X” deserves to be remembered.
The “Great Sedition Trial” uncovered shocking connections at the time with the German reich that we were fighting, and challenged the idea that the nation was of a single mind during the war. It also challenged exactly how far the national commitment to freedom of speech and opinion reached, especially in extraordinary times.