A survey from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that the highest priority large mission for the next 10 years should be a Uranus Orbiter and Probe.
It calls for a mission that will map the magnetic and gravitational fields of Uranus. The atmospheric probe would be delivered into the planet after several years.
The decadal survey of astronomical goals was published in November. A new survey outlines the priorities and funding recommendations for planetary science, as defined by hundreds of members of those fields.
This recommended portfolio of missions, high-priority research activities, and technology development will produce significant advances in human knowledge and understanding about the origin and evolution of the solar system, and of life and the habitability of other bodies beyond Earth.
Questions about exoplanets, the structure of distant worlds, and how our solar system began and evolved are some of the topics in the report.
There are several missions recommended by the decadal survey. The highest priority mission of the next decade should be a probe of the seventh planet from the Sun.
Mark Hofstadter, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, led the team that made the case for Uranus in a white paper. The main goals should be to investigate the composition and structure of Uranus, the nature of its magnetic field, how its internal heat moves to the surface, and specifics of its atmosphere, moons, and ring system. The smell of Uranus is similar to farts. The ice giant can only be seen from 1.92 billion miles away.
If the mission leaves in 2031 or 2032, it could use a gravity assist from Jupiter to speed up the journey, according to the report.
According to the report, the Enceladus Orbilander should be the second highest priority large mission. Enceladus is an icy moon of Saturn that has shown signs of life.
Astronomers spot X-Rays from Uranus.
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