MISSIONS TO URANUS AND NEPTUNE
NASA reports suggest several possible future spacecraft to the ice giants
Neptune orbiter with probe
Launch date: 2030s
Mission length: 15 years
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A minimum 50-kilogram science payload would be required for a mission to Neptune. This would include both the orbiter and probe’s science packages. The orbiter would study Neptune’s moons – particularly Triton, which is a captured Kuiper Belt object. It would also study Neptune’s weather systems, magnetosphere and solar wind particles at this distance. The atmospheric probe would be required to accurately measure the abundance of noble gases, including hydrogen and helium, and other elements.
Uranus orbiter only
Launch date: 2030s
Mission length: 15 years 2
This would weigh three times as much as the other concepts, but carry five times as many instruments. Alongside a narrow-angle camera and instruments for measuring magnetic fields and interior atmospheric structure, the orbiter will have spectrometers, a dust detector and other devices. It would have a wide-angle camera for snapping wide vistas of the planet, its moons and rings. It may clear up long-standing mysteries. One big mystery of Uranus is why it radiates so little heat compared to the other giant planets.
Uranus orbiter with probe
Launch date: 2030s
Mission length: 15 years
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An orbiter and probe would have a major advantage over a flyby. While the probe studied the planet’s atmospheric layers, the orbiter could study the moons and ring system in great detail.
As a comparison to Cassini, unexpected discoveries such as plumes of water ice on Enceladus were a fortunate consequence. A Uranus orbiterprobe would be almost the same as the Neptune orbiterprobe concept. It’s thought both planets’ moons harbour water in some form. This would be of value in understanding both planets’ environments.
Uranus flyby with probe
Launch date: 2030s
Mission length: 10 years
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A flyby, weight for weight, would be the cheapest ice-giant mission option, and it would achieve many of the same science objectives. However, a flyby mission wouldn’t have much time to study the planet, its moons or ring system. It would have to work fast and release its probe. As with Neptune, the probe would be required to measure the abundance of hydrogen, helium, heavier noble gases and other elements such as volatiles in the atmosphere. Although not the same as Neptune, a lot could be inferred from it by studying Uranus.