Binzel was awarded the
H. C. Urey Prize by the
American Astronomical Society in 1991. He also was awarded a "MacVicar Faculty Fellowship" for teaching excellence at MIT in 1994. He is a co-investigator on the
OSIRIS-REx mission. Binzel was on the "Planet Definition Committee" that developed the proposal to the
International Astronomical Union's meeting in
Prague in 2006 on whether
Pluto should be considered a
planet. Their proposal was revised during the meeting and
Pluto is now considered a
dwarf planet. However, Richard Binzel has strong feelings contrary to this collective decision and would prefer for Pluto to still be classified as having full planet status. Binzel is an editor of the books
Seventy-five years of Hirayama asteroid families : the role of collisions in the Solar System history and
Asteroids II . He is General Editor of the University of Arizona Space Science Series. Richard Binzel assists his family in raising
guide dog puppies for
Guiding Eyes for the Blind. His favorite dog was their fourth, Skyler. He is also a frequent leader with the MIT Alumni Association. The main-belt asteroid
2873 Binzel, discovered by
Edward Bowell at
Anderson Mesa Station, was named in his honor. ==See also==