Understanding how Uranus formed and moved around could help us understand other star systems.
In other systems, we’ve found a lot of planets sized somewhere between Earth and the ice giants. These super-Earths, or sub-Neptunes, seem to be common in other star systems. So why don’t we have one?
To answer this question, we need to better understand how and where our planets formed. While we’ve learned a lot about rocky planets, and to a lesser extent the gas giants, ice giants are still a mystery.
Uranus orbiter and probe
A Uranus mission has been one of the planetary science community’s top priorities for the past decade.
Every 10 years, scientists create a report for NASA called the Decadal Survey that sets priorities for the next decade of exploration. The 2013 Decadal Survey listed three top priorities: Europa Clipper, Mars Sample Return, and a Uranus mission.
Europa Clipper is set to launch this year. Mars Sample Return plans are in progress, even as it faces ongoing reviews and budgetary uncertainties. That leaves a Uranus mission as the new top priority, according to the 2023 Decadal Survey.
Rather than flying past Uranus like Voyager 2, the spacecraft would enter orbit and make a comprehensive tour of Uranus, its rings, and its moons. It would also drop a probe into the planet’s atmosphere. The mission would produce a feast of data for a wide range of space scientists.
“That’s the idea behind a big flagship-type mission,” said Simon. “You get this interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary science, because you’re looking at all those aspects at the same time.”
A Uranus mission could, in theory, launch in 2031 and arrive in 2043. With NASA facing budgetary challenges and Mars Sample Return still struggling to gain momentum, that timeframe may be optimistic. Nevertheless, at some point a new mission will arrive at Uranus, becoming the first spacecraft to visit in over a half-century. The mission will usher in a new era of discovery and help reveal the planet’s unsolved mysteries.