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Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Renaming

Picture here are SDC Principal Investigator Mihály Horányi, Venetia Burney, and New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern. Burney passed away in 2009. (Courtesy LASP)

Pictured here are SDC Principal Investigator Mihály Horányi, Venetia Burney, and New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern. Burney passed away in 2009. (Courtesy LASP)

After six months of successful operations in space the SDC instrument was renamed. The dedication reads:

“New Horizons, the first mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, is proud to announce that the student instrument (SDC) aboard our spacecraft is hereby named “The Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter” in honor of Ms. Venetia Burney Phair, who at age of eleven nominated the name Pluto for our solar system’s ninth planet. May “Venetia” inspire a new generation of students to explore our solar system, to make discoveries which challenge the imagination, and to pursue learning all through their lives.”

Venetia Burney at age 11. (Courtesy British Broadcasting System. Source)

Venetia Burney at age 11. (Courtesy British Broadcasting System. Source)