NASA Trip To Pluto: Some Researchers Already Are Working On It

Pluto was stripped of its full planet status in 2006, more than 75 years after it was discovered, and demoted to dwarf planet. It has been treated as such since.

Other planets have rovers and spacecraft dedicated to studying them, but Pluto got only a flyby from the New Horizons spacecraft en route to explore the Kuiper Belt.

Read: What Is Pluto? 8 Facts About Dwarf Planet Discovered 87 Years Ago

While the data collected by New Horizons was substantial, it left NASA with more questions than answers — questions that only can be answered by studying the planet for a longer period of time, something that may actually be in the works. NASA researcher Alan Stern tweeted Monday he and other scientists are working on a second mission to Pluto.

He told Gizmodo there's talk in the science community of possibly sending a spacecraft to orbit Pluto, which would allow information to relay back to Earth for years. The hope is that whatever craft is sent would have instruments to map the planet and answer some of the questions New Horizons raised.

Photos from the first flyby showed researchers Pluto was made mostly of rock and ice, and its moons functioned differently than Earth's. To better map the dwarf, and learn about its makeup or even how planets are formed, another mission would be necessary.

Stern told Gizmodo the project is underway, but we probably won't see any of these plans for months. He also said he hopes the team will grow from 35 people to around 100.