Kathleen Mandt, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, published in
Planetary scientists spent on the study of Marsmuch longer than other planets. Partly because of its close proximity, partly because Mars has a surface per se that ships can land on. Objects such as gas giants with dense atmospheres are harder to study. Especially if they do not have a place to land.
However, says Mandt, suchresearch is important. And it is worth starting with Uranus. She emphasizes that now is the right time to start mission planning. By 2032, the alignment of Jupiter with the Earth will allow a gravitational maneuver to launch a probe towards Uranus. The scientist even suggests a name for the probe - "Uranus Orbital Probe" (UOP, Uranus Orbital Probe).
Uranus is considered the strangest solar planetsystem due to its 90 degree inclination relative to the orbital trajectory. It looks like it's rolling on a plane. The tilt creates extreme seasonal variations on the planet as it orbits the Sun once every 84 years.
In the entire history of Uranus, only one spacecraft "visited" - Voyager 2 in 1986. And then, he flew past the planet, his goal was Neptune.
Uranus is considered an ice giant due to twothe heavy elements that make up the bulk of its atmosphere: helium and hydrogen. It also has 27 moons that orbit the planet and "strange rings".
Little is known about Uranus, so NASAit is necessary to put a probe into a permanent orbit around it. So scientists will receive data about the atmosphere and the core of the planet. Perhaps scientists will understand the reason for the strange tilt of Uranus and how ice giants form.
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