Because it's an endorsement of superstition, and sets precedents.

I partially agree. A positive impact on the future we don't get to see is a reason to live our lives well. Along with sowing our oats. But remembering me? I'd rather they spent the time on pursuing worthwhile endeavors, because no matter what people think of me, I won't know it, and it won't make a grain of difference.
Some cultures have a taboo against speaking of the dead, and I can't say I've read anything about that causing problems.

When an autonomous car fails to obey a police officer waving it to the side or waving it on, that's the day when autonomous cars start dying.

I expect the first police protests to be there within days, and the first fatal shooting of people in an autonomous car to be within weeks.

But the final nail in the coffin will be when a senator is stuck in traffic and misses an important flight or meeting, and discover that the reason was an autonomous car that stopped for a shoe[*] and refused to drive over it or cross the double yellow line to get around it.

[*]: It's almost always the left shoe. But it could be a teapot.

Early voting can be changed up to election day. Just because you forced me to send in a vote for your kook, doesn't mean that my vote really will be for your kook - unless you keep me captive until election day, I can change it.

And it still is, especially now with "e-voting". Abusive husbands forcing their wives and grown-up children to vote, for example.
Back in the old days, the worst a redneck could do was say "You did vote for Goldwater as I told you, right?" Now he can force his wife's vote to go to Jeb Bush. What a progress.

No, just that they had emotions and honoured their dead.

Emotions are very useful, but doesn't require ascribing special properties to remains.

But I fail to see what value honouring dead has. Honouring their work would presumably lead to more progress, but honouring individuals who don't exist anymore and are never coming back, including parts of their dead bodies?
I cannot see any reason for this other than a religious superstition that there is something after death.

Out of curiosity, why does that increase the interest?
The mission isn't going to be any different whether it was your and his name, or a random string. No-one will ever see it. How is it different from writing your name in the air? Would that increase his interest in air?

I'm honestly curious. I could see how some might be interested in having their name written where someone might see it, but this seems meaningless.

That is not a scientific difference. Can you show how we can distinguish ashes from Tombough from other ashes?

That wouldn't be too far-fetched. Other sources are more readily available, and they would need some for tests anyhow. And who would know?

Oh, I understand. And that it's a personal and/or religious thing, not something the public should pay for. If a group wanted to ship Clyde Tombaugh's remains out to outer space, and his family were good with that, let them fund it. But don't force the rest of us to pay for what's basically magical thinking.

There's not much logical difference between this and putting Lenin's corpse up for display. Except that Lenin's corpse has a higher probability of actually containing some of Lenin's remains, and those who are morbidly inclined can actually go visit it at times.

Focus on what made Tombaugh do great (or not so great) things, and not a random bit of his carcass (will those 7 grams contain more ear or more penis?). Wenerating dead bodies through public funding is religious symbolism and of no scientific value, unless someone actually studies its effect on people.

Why would it need to be balanced? It's not rotating for gravity. It would likely be better if probes are quite unbalanced, and as a result the gravity drag from the Sun would help keep it pointed in the right direction without risking rotation nor having to run gyroscopes unnecessarily.

And why ashes?
And why ashes from a particular carcass?
There is absolutely nothing special about those ashes compared to those from, say, a pig. This is religious symbolism, not science.
Just because it isn't a particular religion doesn't make it less of a religious gesture. Which, thanks to good Mr. Jefferson, should not take place on public money.

That makes me incredibly sad, and lowers my faith in humanity progressing past this ape state. Kids are indoctrinated with magical thinking, and don't realize that this is just ash, no different from any other ash.

Republicans

And still a tremendous waste of money to placard those who fund NASA for emotional reasons, not scientific reasons. Every extra gram, whether it be a container with ashes, a plaque, or other parts having to be made larger or move to accommodate the extra parts means more design, more testing, more fuel, and no return.

Not that anyone would ever find this probe, but if someone did in the far future, they would have to conclude that 21st century humans believed in magic. Sad, but that at least would be valuable information.

But no martyrs.

That idea is horrible.

When I find that an advertising company has used my song without permission, and plastered it on fifty sites, I cannot afford to post a bond for each link. But Big Business can afford to do so.

Anything that requires fees or lawyers will benefit Big Business, who can afford it, and not the little man, who can't.

A better solution is to mandate a public fine for anyone who makes false accusations, whether due to negligence, incompetence or malice. And even better, to make fines proportional to the income of the fined, like in some countries.

Making bad math puns is the first sine that you've had too much to drink.

No android phone I have has done this. While the screen goes blank, it's still active. If you touch the screen (or adjust the volume), it turns back on. To expose among other thing a big button that says "End Call".

Trust me, I've hung up more than one call on accident.