Onwards to Uranus and Neptune! Options

[SFJCody]

As soon as MESSENGER gets to Mercury, the most poorly explored planets in the solar system will be Uranus and Neptune. Could this lead to a revival of interest in the ice giants and their retinue, in the same way that the existence of New Horizons is perhaps partly due to the Pluto stamp*?







*via Pluto Fast Flyby and later Pluto Kuiper Express

[tedstryk]

As soon as MESSENGER gets to Mercury, the most poorly explored planets in the solar system will be Uranus and Neptune. Could this lead to a revival of interest in the ice giants and their retinue, in the same way that the existence of New Horizons is perhaps partly due to the Pluto stamp*?
*via Pluto Fast Flyby and later Pluto Kuiper Express

Here is what makes it difficult. Due to the expense and the long time commitment, it takes a lot more of a push to explore Uranus and Neptune than it does Mars, Venus, or even Jupiter. Also, the fact that Voyager-2 has been there. I am not saying Voyager is the be all and end all of exploration. What I am saying is that Pluto had the benefit of the "There is only one of the nine planets we haven't explored, and this flyby mission would get us there." I should add that this has nothing to do with the "is Pluto a planet" debate - the fact of the matter is that it was officially recognized as one at the time. In fact the questions about its status gave the mission media attention as well - as if New Horizons could somehow carry a Multispectral Mapping Planetometer (yes, I made that up, so don't ask me how it would work ) to answer this
"question." This gave the mission publicity and enough clout to lead congress to override its omission from the budget.

Selling another flyby of Uranus and Neptune requires much more explanation. And anything beyond a flyby would be a huge flagship. With active Triton and the exciting Voyager images of Neptune's clouds, I think it fares a better chance at another visit. Unless there is some probe going to explore the heliopause (in other words, something coincidental) and Uranus is a target of opportunity, I don't think we will be visiting it for a long time to come. Perhaps it could be sold as a chance to see the northern hemisphere of Uranus and its moons. I would really like to see a mission like this happen, but I am not holding my breath.