The Planetary Society’s mission - to empower the world’s citizens to advance space science and exploration - depends on public involvement. While the science community lives and breathes the language of exploration, we rely on great public engagement work to welcome people around the world to be part of space exploration.

That is why we created the Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Presentation of Science. I am honored to announce that Alan Stern and the New Horizons mission team are the newest recipients of the Cosmos Award, which will be presented at next week’s joint American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences and European Planetary Science Congress annual meeting in Pasadena.

New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern and the mission team were standout candidates for the Cosmos Award, unanimously selected by The Planetary Society Board of Directors. Their work to engage the public throughout the history-making New Horizons Pluto system flyby and subsequent phases of scientific discoveries excited the global community and fueled public interest for space. Alan Stern and the New Horizons team embraced the July 2015 Pluto system flyby as an immense opportunity to engage and energize audiences worldwide. Through spectacular first-time photographs and storytelling, the New Horizons team sparked massive public interest not only in Pluto and its moons, but also in the excitement of modern scientific exploration in general.