Contested Pluto mission wins key support

WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- A mission to Pluto and its odd neighborhood of icy primordial objects is a top U.S. science priority, a panel of experts has concluded in a new report. The backing of the National Research Council team, which was asked by NASA to rank science priorities, is expected to help developers of a mission to Pluto win back funding after the agency had canceled the program.