NASA's New Horizons mission provided breathtaking images and data on Pluto, but ten years later, there are no active plans for a return mission. The wealth of information gathered necessitates further investigation, yet future efforts could take over fifty years to be realized. Compounding this challenge are proposed cuts to NASA's science budget, which threaten existing missions and future exploration. Scientists rely on archived data and current telescopes to analyze Pluto until new missions can be funded and developed, which hinges on broader budgetary decisions and priorities.
Ten years after the New Horizons encounter, there are no missions on the books to go back to Pluto and no real prospects for one.
Scientists might get a chance to start developing another Pluto mission in perhaps 10 or 20 years, after higher-priority missions like Mars Sample Return.
The Trump administration has proposed cutting NASA's science budget in half, jeopardizing not only future missions to explore the Solar System.
For at least the next few decades, the only resources available for scientists will be the New Horizons mission's archive or observations from powerful telescopes.
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