A report from the National Academy of Sciences that sets space priorities for the next decade urges the launch of the first mission to the giant planet Uranus, known as the Decadal Survey Committee for Planetary Science and Astrobiology, and it identifies the probe to Uranus as the main mission of highest priority.
According to the British newspaper “Daily Mail” website, Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun, and it revolves around the star every 83 Earth years, and it is an ice giant with 17 known moons and a temperature of at least 371 degrees Fahrenheit.
Through the report, astronomers and planetary scientists also called on NASA to visit the frozen moon of Saturn, “Enceladus”, and search for signs of life.
Every ten years, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine bring together a group of space experts and ask them to come to a consensus on how NASA should implement its planetary science and defense budgets.
The latest report covers the years 2023 to 2032 and also includes plans already underway, such as returning rocks from Mars and applying science to the Moon.
The proposals are influential when it comes to obtaining federal funding for future space missions and guiding NASA’s plans for large-scale projects.
The report describes Uranus as one of the most interesting objects in the solar system, and says its study will improve our understanding of ice giants in general.
The group says the spacecraft should operate in the system over a number of years, orbiting the ice giant and sending a probe into its atmosphere.
On: 04-21- 2022