Uranus and/or Neptune Exploration |
Uranus and/or Neptune Exploration |
Jul 20 2016, 05:29 PM
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#1
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 15 Joined: 26-March 12 From: San Antonio, Texas Member No.: 6368 |
I'm 49 and will be 50 in January. With the success of New Horizons, being the first humans to ever see Pluto is mind blowing, I was wondering if I/we will ever see a probe or exploration of Uranus and Neptune? Are there any plans for exploring these two planets in the near future?
Thanks, James Sontag -------------------- Axes Grind and Maces Clash!
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Jul 26 2016, 08:52 PM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2511 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 497 |
Are there any plans for exploring these two planets in the near future? Depends on your definitions of "plans" and "near". There are always plans. See, for example, "Uranus and Neptune Orbiter and Probe Concept Studies", http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/grou.../ssb_059323.pdf In the last decadal survey (for missions through 2022), a Uranus orbiter and probe mission was ranked third after a Mars sample return cacher and a Europa orbiter/multiple flyby mission. Given budget realities, I think it's very unlikely that a Uranus mission will happen in that time period, and after that, who knows? -------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.
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Jul 27 2016, 06:47 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
It seems like Europa, Titan, Io, and Enceladus could keep trumping Uranus and Neptune plans for decades. Titan, certainly, has merit comparable to Mars for repeated generations of missions, except the cruise time is unfortunately much longer so the iterations would have to be ~decadal instead of biennial, and the same may be said of Europa.
I just posted about the incredible capabilities expected of the EELT when it comes online in Chile c. 2024. Boasting 16 times the resolution of HST, it could view the Uranus system with about half the resolution that HST can image Mars. That could perform some pretty nice science from the ground. In the case of Uranus, that's particularly nice because the axial inclination means that the full range of seasons/latitudes could only be observed by a long-life orbiter, while something on the ground can sit and wait for the opportunities as they come. |
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