![]() "The orbiters will be given 1st priority in the launch queue. Probes could still come later, Horzempa says, which can be an advantage for future atmospheric probe missions to both ice giants. This makes the orbiters more simple and cheap, which increases the likelihood that they will be approved. "Key to affordability is the separation of the probe missions from the orbiters," he writes. Sacrificing an atmosphere probe is a trade-off worth making if it means that a mission can be launched to take advantage of gravity-assist maneuvers, according to Horzempa. We've got a lot to learn about Uranus and Neptune and their atmospheres, but more detailed studies with probes will have to wait. Both planets likely have solid cores, but the rest of their compositions are very strange and might include regions where methane decomposes into diamond crystals that rain downward like hailstones into oceans of liquid carbon. Ideal missions to both planets would include orbiters and atmospheric probes. "This abbreviated timeline dictates the use of a simple craft with no atmosphere Probe." "In order to take advantage of the first Jupiter assist, it is imperative that Phase A should begin for a Neptune Orbiter in 2022," Horzempa writes, so time is running out. Later this decade, there are two launch windows that can take advantage of Jupiter gravity-assist maneuvers. The New Horizons mission and the Parker Solar Probe have similar backstories. But the program was enormously expensive and was canceled. Two more would've visited Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. NASA's Grand Tour program in the 1970s called for four probes: two would've visited Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto. The Viking Mars landers were eventually launched as more streamlined versions of an initial mission proposal. Some of NASA's best missions were only launched as more streamlined, cheaper versions of their original proposals. Horzempa points out that there's a historical precedent for this. Launch windows are approaching for missions to both planets, and rather than propose elaborate missions that may never get approved, NASA should develop reasonable missions that can advance our understanding of both worlds. Instead, NASA could rapidly develop missions to both ice giants that could gather important scientific data without breaking their budget. He explains how they needn't be ground-breaking designs, and they needn't be flagship missions. In a white paper submitted to the National Academies of Sciences, Horzempa outlines the case for building a pair of orbiters to visit Uranus and Neptune. Philip Horzempa, from LeMoyne College at Syracuse University, says that we can explore both Uranus and Neptune if we're guided by two simple words: simple and affordable. Observations from a distance will always have their limitations and can never replace purpose-built missions. The James Webb Space Telescope has shown its ability to study our solar system's planets with its fascinating images of Jupiter, but it has other jobs to do. But it struggles to reveal details from a distance. The Hubble space telescope has tried to fill in the gaps in our understanding of the solar system's pair of ice giants. Imagine what dedicated orbiters could discover with modern technology. ![]() Voyager 2 was also the last and only spacecraft to fly past Neptune, coming to within 4,800 kilometers (2,983 miles) above the planet's north pole in 1989. It got to within 81,500 kilometers (50,600 miles) of the planet's cloud tops. The last spacecraft to fly past Uranus was Voyager 2 in 1986, and it was the only one. They played a role in the evolution of the solar system, they're similar to many exoplanets we find in distant solar systems, and our brief encounters with them gave us only tantalizing glimpses. But the ice giants demand attention, too, even though we can never land there or gather samples from them. The eventual Mars Sample Return mission will be resource intensive, as will the Artemis program. NASA has a strong focus on Mars and the moon right now. Especially the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. But there are fascinating worlds further out in the solar system that are begging to be explored. ![]() The demands of deeper, scientifically fulfilling missions to Mars and the moon are squeezing the budgets of NASA, the ESA, and other agencies. But complex missions to Mars and the moon are eating up budgets and shoving other endeavors aside.Ī new paper, available on the preprint server arXiv, shows how we can send spacecraft to Uranus and Neptune cheaply and quickly without cutting into Martian and Lunar missions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |