Solar system-size headache or profit bonanza?

By Douglas MacMillan

updated 4:30 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2006

Now that astronomers have booted Pluto from the ranks of official planets, what's a planetarium gift shop to do?

It's not often that the solar system loses a whole planet, but it did just that Thursday, when the International Astronomical Union meeting in Prague changed the definition of a planet to exclude Pluto, dropping the count of official planets from nine to eight.

And while it was the scientific community that had to deal with the impact of the change in their view of the cosmos, some Earth-bound businesses began toting up the dollars-and-cents implications of Pluto's expulsion.

Affected by the move are stacks of school textbooks, diner place mats, bedroom posters, computer software, glow-in-the-dark mobiles, encyclopedias and entire museum exhibits depicting the now-obsolete nine-planet solar system.

But while it's clear that the change will mean significant replacement costs for businesses in the education industry, other pockets of space commerce are counting on the upsurge of interest in things planetary to generate new growth.

At Chicago's Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the ongoing debate about the categorization of planets over the past few months has already sparked newfound interest in museum exhibits, sky shows and an interactive classroom called CyberSpace — which is equipped to quickly reflect scientific advancements like these.

"It's exciting for the general public," said Susan Wagner, Adler's vice-president for exhibits and programs. "We are here to educate, and we will be very happy to engage the visitors in this debate."

In addition to altering its permanent exhibits, Adler will immediately incorporate the new definition of Pluto as a "dwarf planet" into its live planetarium shows and may soon begin an educational lecture series on the topic, according to Wagner.

Update the encyclopedia
While museums stand to see new crowds with a piqued curiosity, the suddenly outdated merchandise on the shelves of their gift stores presents a sticky problem. The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington is working with its product distributors to get astronomically correct educational knick-knacks in its shop as soon as possible.

"We do still need to have the solar system models and the books about the solar system out there. [Replacing them] is going to take a while, and we don't have a definitive timetable," says Becky Haberacker, spokeswoman for Smithsonian Business Ventures. "We are working with our vendors to see what kind of new products they will be producing that will have Pluto in its new classifications."

More from Businessweek Click on links for more coverage Cell phones of the future 10 oddest iPod accessories High tech toys Surefire upgrades for the TV room The dorm room of your dreams

Although the astronomers' announcement took some businesses off guard, others with a bigger stake in the change were watching carefully. At the World Book Encyclopedia, last-minute events that could affect entries are not a new phenomenon—the annual publication has previously reported on such timely entries as election results and natural disasters occurring just before the year's end.

The Chicago-based World Book made a contingency plan weeks ago to prepare for Pluto's planetary fall from grace, says editor-in-chief Paul Kobasa. "We structure our schedule so that we can catch things," he says. "As soon as we learned that the IAU was contemplating changing the definition of planet, we prepared lists of changes we would have to make contingent on whatever decision was voted." In addition, the encyclopedia moved the entry further back in the printing schedule so there would be no need to "stop the presses."

In another area of the publishing industry, science textbooks will require significant updating of diagrams and, in some cases, whole chapters. Because most textbooks are distributed to schools in five- to six-year cycles, the change in Pluto's status will not be reflected immediately in most areas of the country.

MORE FROM BUSINESSWEEK

BusinessWeek Section Front

Jobs Report: A Blow to Optimism Air France Crash: Hunting for Black Boxes Stocks Tumble on Jobs News Creating Order from Chaos with Evernote Mozilla's Crowdsourcing Mystique Upgrading the Computer History Museum Job Losses Lessen, but Recovery Remains Far Off Hyundai Offers a $1.49 Price Lock on Gas Alcohol, Then Tobacco. Now Fast Food? Honduras' Coup: The Last Thing a Poor Nation Needs BusinessWeek Section Front