NASA May Potentially Visit Neptune and Uranus

NASA is planning on potentially launching a mission to Neptune after New Horizons mission to Pluto concludes. 26 years since the space agency’s Voyager 2 flyby, NASA Planetary Science Division director Jim Green has requested that its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) launch missions to Neptune, Uranus, or both of the planets, according to The Space Reporter.

ABOUT THE PROPOSED MISSION

The mission would be a flagship mission, which are of a larger scale and are more expensive than the other two mission types, Discovery and New Frontiers. Some of the space agency’s most high-profile missions, such as the Galileo, Cassini and Voyager projects, have been flagship missions. According to Green, a mission to one or both of the planets would cost around $2 billion. And of course, it would launch only after the successful completion of the New Horizons Pluto mission.

According to Diane Depra of Tech Times, the proposal’s ultimate fate depends on the priorities of the executives who decide on budget given by NASA to projects.

NASA ALMOST DID A SIMILAR MISSION THE PAST

A similar mission to these planets has been proposed in the past but was rejected. Titled “Argo”, it was declined because NASA lacked the plutonium necessary to do it. However, the space agency has been given funding for plutonium acquisition since the plan was shot down, and it is thought that its cost would be covered.

WHY BOTH PLANETS SHOULD BE EXPLORED

Depra also noted that Triton, one of Neptune’s moon, would be an “attractive destination” because of its retrograde orbit, a feature shared by no other moon in the solar system. Its orbit is also thought by scientists to might mean that it was captured by Neptune’s orbit, and is originally from the Kuiper Belt. Aside from Triton, the Tech Times journalist also pointed out that Neptune’s five moons would make it a great candidate, as they are as large as dwarf planets.

A trip to either to Neptune or Uranus would follow Europa Multiple Flyby Mission and Mars2020 as one of the major missions if NASA granted approval, Astronomy.com pointed out.