I'd been waiting for this and following New Horizons so obviously it's great to see, but what slightly tainted the coverage for me was all the freaking USA flag-wavin'. Do you guys really always have to do that?
We American Scientists do things like that because the number of politicians and voters who are for nationaldickwaving is much larger than the number of politicians and voters who are for science. We don't like the national dickwaving, but sometimes we just have to take one for the team.
Obama called it "American leadership".
If Obama had not said something along those lines, the American news media's coverage would have been dominated by Republican Presidential candidates attacking Obama's lack of patriotism.
At one point a NASA guy said it was "all about America" in a room full of US flags. Funny, I thought it was all about Pluto.
By uttering those three simple words, the NASA guy did his part to ensure that the US Congress would continue to fund NASA. Thank you, NASA guy, for taking one for the team.
Can't it just be a victory for human ingenuity and curiosity?
I wish it could be that, but the US Congress rarely provides funds for the victories of human ingenuity and curiosity.