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Remembering Uncle Clyde, The Man Who Found Pluto

NASA

In 2006, NASA launched the New Horizons mission to explore the far edge of the Milky Way. Tuesday morning, the spacecraft finally reached its closest approach to Pluto and sent back the best pictures we've ever seen.

The study of Pluto actually started in 1930. That's when ClydeTombaugh--a farmer from Burdett, Kansas--discovered the dwarf planet. At the time, he was working at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.

People around the world are keeping track of the New Horizons mission. Among them is Doug Tombaugh, of Kansas City, Clyde Tombaugh's nephew.

KPR's J. Schafer recently spoke to him about his famous uncle. Doug said his uncle couldn't afford to go to college, so he started teaching himself about astronomy on the family farm in central Kansas.

After traveling 3 billion miles, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft was expected to fly by Pluto Tuesday morning. Tucked away onboard the craft, inside a small canister, are some of the cremated remains of Clyde Tombaugh.

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J. Schafer is the News Director of Kansas Public Radio at the Univeristy of Kansas. He’s also the Managing Editor of the Kansas Public Radio Network, which provides news and information to other public radio stations in Kansas and Missouri. Before joining KPR in 1995, Schafer spent 10 years as a commercial radio and TV newsman. During his career, he's filed stories for nearly every major radio news network in the nation including ABC, NBC, CBS, AP, UPI, the Mutual Broadcasting System, NPR and the BBC. This seems to impress no one. At KPR, he produces feature stories, interviews and newscast items and edits the work of others. In the fall of 2000, he performed contract work for the U.S. State Department, traveling to central Asia to teach broadcast journalism at newly independent radio stations in the former Soviet Union. One of his passions is Kansas; learning about and promoting the state’s rich heritage, people and accomplishments. Schafer gives presentations about Kansas to various organizations around the state to remind residents about our awesome history and incredible people. A native of Great Bend, he studied journalism and mass communications at Barton County Community College and at the University of Kansas. He was also an exchange student to Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. The “J.” in J. Schafer stands for Jeremy, but he doesn’t really care for that name. He also enjoys the pretentiousness of using just a single initial for a first name!