We hear a
lot about Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and that’s because we have extremely fancy
hardware floating around and, in some cases, cruising on the surface of those
planets. The planets that lie further away from the Sun don’t get nearly as
much attention, but they may soon, as NASA is currently spitballing some
missions that will give us a better look at Uranus than we’ve ever gotten.
The
theoretical missions, which would see NASA spacecraft heading to both Uranus
and Neptune, would be of huge scientific benefit.
The idea is
to determine what the planets are made of, get an idea of the atmospheric
composition, and take lots of fantastic photographs, too.
Researchers
hope to study the weather and overall climate of the planets, while determining
how they fit into the overall makeup of our Solar System.
Both Uranus
and Neptune still hold many secrets yet to be revealed, and the proposed
missions would include both flybys and an orbiter that would send an
atmospheric probe to Uranus in order to sample its gasses and detect elements.
A similar option exists for Neptune, though the actual details of the
mission(s) would need to be fully fleshed out before it comes anywhere near a
formal proposal.
The missions
are still a long way from reality, both in funding and in time frame. NASA says
that 2030 through 2036 would be feasible for a Uranus trip, while a Neptune
mission would need to take place before 2030 or after 2040, due to the timing
of a gravity-assisted boost around Jupiter. We hope that these missions soon
become reality and we get to know more about Uranus.
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