American academics have decided: After Mars, which was elected ten years ago, they have defined Uranus as the new priority for astronomers and planetary scientists for years to come. The promise of stunning new discoveries… but we will have to be patient.
Every ten years, the leading scientists of the American Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine collaborate to produce a highly prestigious report that explores both the progress in research since the last edition, but also and most importantly the paths that remain. be explored. In the cosmological chapter of this new version, these specialists have brought to the fore a new priority: it concerns:Uranus† the seventh planet in the solar system.
If this panel of highly influential scientists is so interested in this ice giant, it’s because it hasn’t gotten all the attention it deserves until now. The 2011 version of the report identified another much larger priority, which is Mars. And the least we can say is that this recommendation has been followed to the letter.
The next big space exploration project
Since the beginning of the decade, it has been the center of attention. Besides the diatribes of Elon Musk who never stops proclaiming his love for the red planet, we could follow a lot of work there, each one more impressive than the next; at the moment there are several machines, including: Curiosity† Perseverance and ingenuity keep exploring the red planet to discover its secrets.
The last two come fromarriving in the famous delta which is the main purpose of their mission, which is to try to find traces of past life. There is therefore reason to be particularly enthusiastic about the rest of the events. But in the shadow of this cosmic superstar, there is no doubt that other celestial bodies also hide real scientific treasures, while NASA and other agencies do not show them the same love.
This preferential treatment is mainly explained by the distances in the game† Mars orbits about 211 million kilometers from the sun; Uranus, on the other hand, is located almost… On average, three billion kilometers from the sun. A song that clearly makes it one object particularly difficult to reach† Currently, Voyager 2 remains the only vessel to have visited this planet. Out of sight out of mind…
…for now anyway. Because if NASA follows the recommendations of academics, as it has again done for Mars, we can expect an armada of first-class scientific instruments to begin to take an interest in them. And that probably starts with the design of a new probe especially for this purpose.
A fascinating study object
And the least we can say is that the arguments for this trip are not lacking. Because if Uranus remains very mysterious in many ways, the little information available to researchers is enough to raise many questions.
The first of these idiosyncrasies concerns its nature. Uranus is considered a giantess of ice, which means it consists mainly of gas and liquid. So, strictly speaking, it has no real surface. A probe could theoretically approach it, but it would be instantly reduced to dust by the Dantesque pressure.
On the other hand, it also means that fascinating phenomena are taking place; like its close cousin Neptune, for example, we know it is home to real “diamond rain” in the middle layers of its atmosphere!
In addition, its axis of rotation also raises many questions. Most planets rotate around an axis relatively close to the “vertical” (or to be more precise, perpendicular to the plane defined by the orbit). In Uranus, on the other hand, this axis of rotation is almost parallel to the plane; so she is “lying” in his jobas if it had been struck on its side by a violent blow. In any case, this is one of the hypotheses that the researchers will investigate.
A large number of additional elements to study
In addition, Uranus also has a nice collection of distinctive elements. It begins with its two sets of rings, although they are not as remarkable as Saturn’s. It also has 27 satellites all of which have inherited names from works by William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope. And these objects are all very interesting in their own right. They are divided into three categories; there are thirteen small so-called “inner” satellites, nine so-called “irregular” satellites.
But we also and above all find five big moons. Of these, four show evidence of geological processes, active cryovolcanism, and fluid circulation; elements that naturally make them priority targets for these future missions.
Suffice it to say that the arguments are not lacking, especially since the necessary technology is already perfectly mastered. Therefore, of all the projects reviewed by the academics, the exploration of Uranus appeared as the most mature and pragmatic large space project to date† The report therefore proposes laying the logistical and financial foundations of the mission as early as 2024.
20 years for the first results… at least
But we will have to wait well past this deadline to see the first news from Uranus arriving. For starters, we’ll have to wait for a suitable start window† Indeed, a spacecraft cannot take off when it wants to. It must take into account the respective positions of the departure and arrival planets in their respective orbits.
It can thus save time and resources, but also greatly simplify the maneuvers at the end of the race. This is already very important for destinations like the moon or Mars; but it is all the more so when we talk about such distant objects, where the travel time is at best counted in decades.
Indeed, under optimal conditions, the vehicle could reach Uranus by… Minimum 13 years. And this duration means you can play on an effect called “gravity catapult” to propel itself to Uranus thanks to Jupiter’s gravitational field. Suffice it to say, the mission could easily be delayed for decades if it leaves at the wrong time.
To take advantage of this gravitational catapult and reach Uranus in a respectable time, we’ll have to wait for the planets to literally align. The next compatible window will not arrive sooner 2031† this means that in the most optimistic scenario, the craft will not reach Uranus sooner 2043.
