SCIENTISTS from around the world have collectively agreed that reaching and exploring Uranus should be a priority for Nasa and all other space agencies.
The scientific community’s increased interest in Uranus was made known in a survey conducted every decade by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
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The last time humans got a good look a Uranus was in 1986 when the Voyager 2 did a flyby of the icy planet – the spacecraft got within 50,000 miles of the distant planet.
A mission to Uranus would include a large spaceship to orbit the planet and observe its properties from a distance – there would also be a smaller probe that would be the first to dip into the planet’s atmosphere.
Tangential missions to some of Uranus’ moons could be part of the mission – the moons could have water or other significant properties on their surfaces.
Scientific American reported that getting to Uranus could cost $4.2billion dollars to pull off.
Though Nasa is the main recipient of the study, and a partnership with the European Space Agency is a possibility, Elon Musk’s private space travel company SpaceX would likely be tapped for assistance.
The study wrote that a mission to Uranus is achievable on “currently available launch vehicles,” which reporters at Teslarati interpret to be a nod to the Falcon Heavy rocket made by SpaceX.
The Falcon Heavy rocket, Teslarati writes, is the only rocket with the specs to take a payload to Uranus – Musk tipped his cap to the site’s assessment on Twitter.
If launched in 2024, the Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) would arrive in the mid-2040s.
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The survey of planetary scientists has resulted real, tangible projects.
The Verge highlighted Nasa’s Perseverance rover, which is operating on Mars, as one of the outcomes of the 2011 survey.
A planetary expert told NPR giant planets made of ice like Uranus are “likely the most common class of planets in the universe.”
Uranus was discovered in 1781 by English astronomer Sir William Herschel.
The name is derived from an ancient Greek god of the sky.
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