SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has supported Hollywood actor William Shatner’s idea to designate Pluto as a planet again.
Mr Shatner, who is known for playing Captain Kirk in Star Trek, posted a request on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
We should ask Elon to get the President to sign one of those Executive thingies to make Pluto a planet again. https://t.co/X8cw74Q3AK
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) May 16, 2025
To which Elon Musk, who has recently changed his username to Kekius Maximus, wrote, “I’d support that.”
I’d support that
— Kekius Maximus (@elonmusk) May 16, 2025
The post quickly went viral, with many social media users supporting this idea. A person commented, “This idea is great, it should be done while there is a chance.”
This idea is great, it should definitely be done while there is a chance.????????????
— Ayse Paprika (@aysepaprika) May 16, 2025
Another wrote, “This is the last great wish of a StarFleet Caption. Make it so.”
This is the last great wish of a StarFleet Caption. Make it so.
— Detective51 (@Detective51) May 16, 2025
“Pluto is our family, too. I love Pluto,” echoed a few.
Leaving Pluto out of planets is actually planet racism or fascism or some ism – Idk ????♀️
Pluto is our family too. I love Pluto.
— Sai Suhasini Ramalingam (@saisramalingam) May 16, 2025
Sharing his two cents on the matter, a user wrote, “It still is a planet. It just has an additional description of dwarf too. It’s like saying a small human is not still a human.”
It still is a planet. It just has an additional description of dwarf too.
It’s like saying a small human is not still a human.— Space_Me_Now (@Space_Me_Now) May 16, 2025
Pluto is no longer considered a planet because it doesn’t meet all the criteria set by the International Astronomical Union, which defines a “planet.”
As per NASA, for an object to be classified as a planet, it must orbit the Sun, have sufficient mass for its gravity to overcome rigid forces and have cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. However, in 2006, Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet because of its small size.