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.