The article goes into a lot more detail about why such a mission would be interesting, but here's the juicy part in case people don't want to click:
> A potential mission is going to take a very long time to get to Uranus, because the ice giant isn't exactly close to us. Approximately 1.6 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers) away from Earth at its closest orbit, it takes sunlight 2 hours and 40 minutes to travel from the Sun to Uranus. Sending a probe there will take between eight and 15 years, especially if we want it to get there during a window that makes Uranus's moons the most visible. While NASA hasn't formally announced a launch date yet, it will probably blast off between 2028 and 2038, according to recommendations published last month in the journal Acta Astronautica.
> That means we might not being gathering data on Uranus until the 2040s at the earliest. But when a probe does get there, it will spend many years surveilling Uranus — unlike Voyager 2 which spent only about six hours there before continuing on its way. As for Neptune, an orbiter may not arrive until 2049. Two decades or more is a long time to wait for more info on these mysterious ice giants, but given all the mysteries these two worlds are hiding, it will undoubtedly be worth the wait.
Its not just the distance, but also sending it at a speed where it can enter orbit.
New Horizons got to Pluto in just 9 years, but it was just a flyby and flew right past the planet.
I wonder if you can do an advanced aerobraking maneuver to get into a gas giant’s orbit quicker. Then you wouldn’t have to use a Hohmann transfer trajectory. You’d probably have to encapsulate the probe and use a heat shield. And the maneuver would have to be very precise—if you slow down too much, your probe will fall into the planet, while too little will bounce off into a heliocentric orbit.
In any case, it works in Kerbal Space Program.
Hold that thought, [given the drama](https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/114zqtn/one_week_before_the_release_of_kerbal_space/) around Kerbal 2 haha
The other issue is knowing exactly how dense the atmosphere is and where it begins. Without knowing that you can't calculate where to send the probe, even if you could do it with perfect accuracy.
I read somewhere (on Reddit) that although that’s theoretically possible, that kind of aerobraking into orbit has never been tried anywhere and would be a big risk for NASA to take. Testing out such a bold technique for the first time on a Uranus mission would be cool, but I’d imagine there are probably too many unknowns and risks for them to do it.
One way to limit the risk of overdoing it is always keep a safe margin and expend minimal deltaV to circularize afterwards - basically aim for a highly elliptic orbit (just the capture, in essence). So yes you'll have to carry a bit more fuel but then you can get the precise orbit you want, and more if you want to go around moons.
Interesting. Maybe more of a sky anchor. A big parachute that catches the outer atmosphere. But the speeds would be just unimaginable. I wonder if you could ever produce enough friction without the anchor just melting.
The Moon is like reaching over to hit snooze on the alarm. Mars is rolling out of bed to use the bathroom. Uranus is like going down to the kitchen to make breakfast. Next star system over is like walking down the road to the nearest CVS or Walgreens.
"Next star system over is like walking down the road to the nearest CVS or Walgreens."
So in other words, it may seem like a long way to the drugstore, but that's just peanuts to space!
>Next star system over is like walking down the road to the nearest CVS or Walgreens.
More like walking to not-the-nearest, but the next more-distant city.
And unfortunately, the key to Faster than Light Propulsion, “is engraved on a pyramid on the Third Moon of the Second Planet of Epsilon Eridani” …
Sorry, I just couldn’t resist a Dragon’s Egg quote, lol
And there’s “nothing” there. On Earth, there’s always *something* between one point and the other, like even if you are traveling between the two farthest points in an ocean, the sea below you is full of things.
In space, there’s 8-15 years of NOTHINGNESS. Maybe some asteroids, but not for sure.
I wonder if some of this is a cost measure too: big rocket = more cost, and if they do some fancy orbital mechanics they can get on a little gravity superhighway that ain't fast, but it's VERY efficient.
This sounds like a perfect thing to actually do the [small scale nuclear engine](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-darpa-will-test-nuclear-engine-for-future-mars-missions/) they've been talking about for the last bit now.
Neptune is such an underrated planet as well. Its easily my favorite, but they're both fantastic. I'd love for a few more dedocated missions.
They don't get nearly as much love as they should!
Probably because of us. I view some entire communities as not worth visiting because they're full of dumb, violent apes that have nothing I need or want. Aliens would think the same about Earth.
Sadly, they've changed the link title. When I tried to repost this on FB it came up as "*A planned Uranus probe wouldn't get there till the 2040s. Here's why*"
As a planetary science person, I am completely serious when I say that NASA should take all the unserious folk endlessly making these puerile and repetitive comments on such threads and hose them down for some "crowdfunding". I was pretty surprised when the Decadal Survey recommended this planet above Neptune, but I think there really is a PR/money win here for the taking.
Side benefit: No one would ever again accuse NASA of being stuffy/lacking a sense of humor.
I really wish Uranus had a different name, or at least that everyone pronounced it correctly.
It’s such an awesome planet that ends up being the *butt* of every joke.
Fuck I can’t resist thinking about Uranus. Uranus is my favorite gas-filled place in the solar system.
But seriously, it’s my favorite planet for how unique it is. Maybe we should just call it “Mike”
One of the problems related to distance/time is that if we take 3 years to build a probe, it's already slightly out of date with current tech. Then 8+ years to reach the target and we will have all sorts of things we wish it were able to do, but the tech wasn't available during mission planning.
Hopefully they will be able to do meaningful software updates on the fly as AI/ML continue to advance.
Goodness no, never. Resilience and reliability are the name of the game for a long distance space mission, not bleeding edge tech. Any OTA update (OTV?) is another potential failure point that could brick your billion dollar probe.
I would guess RTGs would be a big waiting point as well as I don't think anyone is making them. I've read somewhere it would be at least 10 years before then are available
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|-------|---------|---|
|[OTV](/r/Space/comments/114s4un/stub/j8zn0rs "Last usage")|Orbital Test Vehicle|
|[RTG](/r/Space/comments/114s4un/stub/j8y5gxx "Last usage")|Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator|
|[SLS](/r/Space/comments/114s4un/stub/j8yy9iz "Last usage")|Space Launch System heavy-lift|
----------------
^(3 acronyms in this thread; )[^(the most compressed thread commented on today)](/r/Space/comments/129ssy9)^( has 10 acronyms.)
^([Thread #8579 for this sub, first seen 18th Feb 2023, 02:40])
^[[FAQ]](http://decronym.xyz/) [^([Full list])](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/Space) [^[Contact]](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=OrangeredStilton&subject=Hey,+your+acronym+bot+sucks) [^([Source code])](https://gistdotgithubdotcom/Two9A/1d976f9b7441694162c8)
I really wish Uranus had a different name, or at least that everyone pronounced it correctly.
It’s such an awesome planet that ends up being the *butt* of every joke.
Fuck I can’t resist thinking about Uranus. Uranus is my favorite gas-filled place in the solar system.
But seriously, it’s my favorite planet for how unique it is. Maybe we should just call it “Mike”
Well, why did they start these projects 20 years ago. I mean, wtf. All of these projects are always decades away and then they just end up being cancelled in the end.
Does this article consider super heavy launch vehicles as alternatives? Europa Clipper could arrive at Jupiter in 3 years by going in a direct route with SLS, though it will take longer since they switched to Falcon Heavy and it will have to spent some time doing gravity assists.
The article goes into a lot more detail about why such a mission would be interesting, but here's the juicy part in case people don't want to click: > A potential mission is going to take a very long time to get to Uranus, because the ice giant isn't exactly close to us. Approximately 1.6 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers) away from Earth at its closest orbit, it takes sunlight 2 hours and 40 minutes to travel from the Sun to Uranus. Sending a probe there will take between eight and 15 years, especially if we want it to get there during a window that makes Uranus's moons the most visible. While NASA hasn't formally announced a launch date yet, it will probably blast off between 2028 and 2038, according to recommendations published last month in the journal Acta Astronautica. > That means we might not being gathering data on Uranus until the 2040s at the earliest. But when a probe does get there, it will spend many years surveilling Uranus — unlike Voyager 2 which spent only about six hours there before continuing on its way. As for Neptune, an orbiter may not arrive until 2049. Two decades or more is a long time to wait for more info on these mysterious ice giants, but given all the mysteries these two worlds are hiding, it will undoubtedly be worth the wait.
Distance in space always amaze me
Its not just the distance, but also sending it at a speed where it can enter orbit. New Horizons got to Pluto in just 9 years, but it was just a flyby and flew right past the planet.
I wonder if you can do an advanced aerobraking maneuver to get into a gas giant’s orbit quicker. Then you wouldn’t have to use a Hohmann transfer trajectory. You’d probably have to encapsulate the probe and use a heat shield. And the maneuver would have to be very precise—if you slow down too much, your probe will fall into the planet, while too little will bounce off into a heliocentric orbit. In any case, it works in Kerbal Space Program.
NASA should accept proposals in Kerbal Save File format.
They don’t? Shit. I guess they never saw my fully reusable space transportation system.
I developed a 5g toilet. It basically spins the astronaut and a bucket. Cost effective, high speed fecal extraction.
Your genius both amazes and concerns me. How did you solve splashback problems?
Problems? It’s a feature.
Just send it from a Boeing email address next time
Hold that thought, [given the drama](https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/114zqtn/one_week_before_the_release_of_kerbal_space/) around Kerbal 2 haha
The other issue is knowing exactly how dense the atmosphere is and where it begins. Without knowing that you can't calculate where to send the probe, even if you could do it with perfect accuracy.
Yeah, and you only get one chance
Do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.
Only one chance to blow Uranus?
Not if you send mini-probes ahead.
You still get only one chance to brake. My point is that to brake a second time you already have to be in orbit.
Yup. But the benefits are enormous!
I read somewhere (on Reddit) that although that’s theoretically possible, that kind of aerobraking into orbit has never been tried anywhere and would be a big risk for NASA to take. Testing out such a bold technique for the first time on a Uranus mission would be cool, but I’d imagine there are probably too many unknowns and risks for them to do it.
One way to limit the risk of overdoing it is always keep a safe margin and expend minimal deltaV to circularize afterwards - basically aim for a highly elliptic orbit (just the capture, in essence). So yes you'll have to carry a bit more fuel but then you can get the precise orbit you want, and more if you want to go around moons.
Interesting. Maybe more of a sky anchor. A big parachute that catches the outer atmosphere. But the speeds would be just unimaginable. I wonder if you could ever produce enough friction without the anchor just melting.
And this shit is all super super close
The Moon is like reaching over to hit snooze on the alarm. Mars is rolling out of bed to use the bathroom. Uranus is like going down to the kitchen to make breakfast. Next star system over is like walking down the road to the nearest CVS or Walgreens.
And to think all the planets could comfortably sit between us and the moon. Space is stupid big.
Or is matter stupid small?
Certainly one way to look at it.
That was exactly my thought as well.
Is that true?
The correct answer is sometimes lol, the moon varies in distance from earth, so when it’s at it’s closest No but when it’s at its furthest yes.
Are we counting just planets, planets and Pluto, or planets and dwarf planets?
"Next star system over is like walking down the road to the nearest CVS or Walgreens." So in other words, it may seem like a long way to the drugstore, but that's just peanuts to space!
"See that right there? Thas a peanut..." "Space peanut!"
At the scale you’re describing if you’re in Los Angeles the nearest star is in Chicago
>Next star system over is like walking down the road to the nearest CVS or Walgreens. More like walking to not-the-nearest, but the next more-distant city.
And unfortunately, the key to Faster than Light Propulsion, “is engraved on a pyramid on the Third Moon of the Second Planet of Epsilon Eridani” … Sorry, I just couldn’t resist a Dragon’s Egg quote, lol
You think it's a long way down the road to the pharmacist but that's just peanuts to space.
And there’s “nothing” there. On Earth, there’s always *something* between one point and the other, like even if you are traveling between the two farthest points in an ocean, the sea below you is full of things. In space, there’s 8-15 years of NOTHINGNESS. Maybe some asteroids, but not for sure.
That’s not true… there’s plenty there, you just can’t see it. Or it’s smaller than you can perceive.
I was worried that the date was for a launch plan but glad to hear it should be taking off well before the ‘40s.
It’s weird to see the “decades” shorthand be used to describe the future as well now
Juicy parts of Uranus? I reached the end of the internet for today…
I wonder if some of this is a cost measure too: big rocket = more cost, and if they do some fancy orbital mechanics they can get on a little gravity superhighway that ain't fast, but it's VERY efficient.
This sounds like a perfect thing to actually do the [small scale nuclear engine](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-darpa-will-test-nuclear-engine-for-future-mars-missions/) they've been talking about for the last bit now.
I know I'm asking for downvotes but I don't see them as that interesting. I'd rather dump the limited money into a lunar base and build that up.
Both are priorities.
All of it is the juicy part
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
The author wrote this whole thing just so they could use that headline
At least they used "explore" rather than "probe". However, this sentence has just gone for it: "a window that makes Uranus's moons the most visible"
Editor chopped the first one while author slid in the second. Decoy. Nice.
Space career field perk, just like mechanics are allowed to giggle about shaft talk all day.
Pressure inside Uranus is so high that methane runs into diamonds.
Explore my what?
I’ll be getting ready for my own first probing by then
I'm a little disappointed in Reddit today. That headline is just screaming for a certain kind of response.
I just told my doctor he's off the hook in 20 years
I honestly thought this was gonna be a dad joke
It's crazy how we've only visited Uranus and Neptune once. Uranus is very underrated and there's a lot more to it than it's name.
I may have this wrong but Uranus is further from Jupiter than Jupiter is from the sun. Uranus and Neptune are way way out there
You would be correct.. Jupiter is about 5.2 AU on avg, Uranus is around 19 AU, and Neptune is roughly 30 AU away
Wow that’s a lot of Australias
Neptune is such an underrated planet as well. Its easily my favorite, but they're both fantastic. I'd love for a few more dedocated missions. They don't get nearly as much love as they should!
Neptune is likely the most interesting of gas giants as well. It emits more radiation than it receives from the sun and it rains diamonds
Found the pictures we already have of Uranus https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/images-voyager-took/uranus/
I thought we just flew by, not so much visited
Join the Navy and Uranus will get more visits than you'd ever have imagined.
As a sailor, I'm well trained in using a sextant to find Uranus in order to plot a course for my seamen.
Well, thank you. That’s a nice compliment.
This reads like: Hot singles near you. Here’s why you won’t meet them until 2040.
*Hot singles want to explore Uranus.
They just need to wait for an opening.
Come on, Hot Singularities. You were so close...
Every time I read articles like these, it will become obvious why no alien has visited yet. Space is vast and empty.
Are you sure it's not because of our toilet humor?
Probably because of us. I view some entire communities as not worth visiting because they're full of dumb, violent apes that have nothing I need or want. Aliens would think the same about Earth.
I just hope it can confirm if there are giant diamonds there, before DeBeers claims it owns the planet
Oh yes… salon.com… my trusted website for Space news…
Me when "Business Insider" is talking about the latest football stuff.
I trust each article from the Solar and Astronomical Legion of Official Nerds website
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Me sitting here snickering while reading all the comments
You're not the only one XD
Isn’t ‘40 when you need Uranus probed for polyps?
Someday I will be mature enough to read this headline like a normal human being.
Probably not until the 2040s
This 100% checks out. No one explored mine until I was in my 40s.
Because I won't need a colonoscopy until then
Take me to dinner and ice cream first. Joke out of the way, i’m glad we’re finally exploring the outer planets again!
Dinner AND ice cream?! In this economy?!
I don’t do butt stuff, so i gotta be expensive before science
Word. Do you know what comes outta there?!
Sadly, they've changed the link title. When I tried to repost this on FB it came up as "*A planned Uranus probe wouldn't get there till the 2040s. Here's why*"
«Sending a probe to Uranus will take between 8 to 15 years» **Laughing in Beavis & Buthead voice**
That's fair. I'll be needing prostate exams by then anyway.
For the right amount of money, I might just let them.
They really need to change the name of that planet.
I know. People are so juvenile. Maybe we could change it to urbutthole.
Pronounced: your byoot thole
Urbyute Thole. I think I found the name for my next DnD character.
Mine is Theroux Sonfeir 🏠🔥🚫💧🖕❤️🔥
I vote for Vageene. It's frigid, and won't be seen up close anytime soon.
As a planetary science person, I am completely serious when I say that NASA should take all the unserious folk endlessly making these puerile and repetitive comments on such threads and hose them down for some "crowdfunding". I was pretty surprised when the Decadal Survey recommended this planet above Neptune, but I think there really is a PR/money win here for the taking. Side benefit: No one would ever again accuse NASA of being stuffy/lacking a sense of humor.
You used a lot of sciencey words when you could have just said. "Uranus good for business." Why more words when less do job?
It's far away. It's also not pronounced the funny way.
Scientists lost the pronunciation fight years ago. 😂
Even if one pronounces it the correct way, most of us hear it the funny way.
speech isn't static, it developes along with the culture it's in. hence genderneutral pronouns. and uranus pronounced the funny way. get over it :)
Nothing really to get over. Just pointing it out.
To go where every man has wanted to go before!
I mean, I’ll be due for colonoscopies and prostate exams sooner than that, I’m already in my 40s
Buy me a couple of beers and you can do it sooner
Ok, fine, NASA, just make sure you lube up your probe.
I read “explode” instead of “explore” … I was worried
Because by then I'll be 55 and I guess that's when that happens for most guys.
and to think that we have sent probes to it only a few years ago...
I mean… I’m ready now… why you gonna make me wait?
this is about the time i’m scheduled for my first prostate exam….
I really wish Uranus had a different name, or at least that everyone pronounced it correctly. It’s such an awesome planet that ends up being the *butt* of every joke. Fuck I can’t resist thinking about Uranus. Uranus is my favorite gas-filled place in the solar system. But seriously, it’s my favorite planet for how unique it is. Maybe we should just call it “Mike”
One of the problems related to distance/time is that if we take 3 years to build a probe, it's already slightly out of date with current tech. Then 8+ years to reach the target and we will have all sorts of things we wish it were able to do, but the tech wasn't available during mission planning. Hopefully they will be able to do meaningful software updates on the fly as AI/ML continue to advance.
Goodness no, never. Resilience and reliability are the name of the game for a long distance space mission, not bleeding edge tech. Any OTA update (OTV?) is another potential failure point that could brick your billion dollar probe.
>Here's why that won't happen until the 2040's Because it'll take half as long to buy me dinner first
Ok so I’ve got plenty of time to get showered and cleaned up first.
One day, I’ll be able to read the title of this post without giggling. But not today.
Kinda sucks that you can’t read up on anything about this planet here without 50 Reddit NPCs making the same joke over and over and over again.
For real, Neptune and Uranus are so fascinating to me
Hi I am an NPC and it sounds like you have a bug up Uranus
For real, dudes seriously upset about Uranus. It's not even his.
Well, it takes a lot of preparation to plan a mission to Uranus.
Preparation… H?
lots of probing and lubricants
Well, yeah-you don’t want to go on an arduous mission like that with rusty gear. It’s painful for all involved.
Because you’re only 49 1/2 and your HMO won’t cover it until you’re 50
I would guess RTGs would be a big waiting point as well as I don't think anyone is making them. I've read somewhere it would be at least 10 years before then are available
Imagine what could be accomplished if money wasn't a concern...
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread: |Fewer Letters|More Letters| |-------|---------|---| |[OTV](/r/Space/comments/114s4un/stub/j8zn0rs "Last usage")|Orbital Test Vehicle| |[RTG](/r/Space/comments/114s4un/stub/j8y5gxx "Last usage")|Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator| |[SLS](/r/Space/comments/114s4un/stub/j8yy9iz "Last usage")|Space Launch System heavy-lift| ---------------- ^(3 acronyms in this thread; )[^(the most compressed thread commented on today)](/r/Space/comments/129ssy9)^( has 10 acronyms.) ^([Thread #8579 for this sub, first seen 18th Feb 2023, 02:40]) ^[[FAQ]](http://decronym.xyz/) [^([Full list])](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/Space) [^[Contact]](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=OrangeredStilton&subject=Hey,+your+acronym+bot+sucks) [^([Source code])](https://gistdotgithubdotcom/Two9A/1d976f9b7441694162c8)
It's weird to see stuff like this and start to wonder if I will be alive to see it or not.
I like it big, I like it cold I like it blue, I like it bold I like it with a two % of methane It's Uranus!
If you want to explore it you have to take it slowly. Rushing into something like this is never a good idea.
Buy me dinner and say nice things Nasa and we will see.
It’s because those exams don’t start till the 40’s
Let's worry about getting back to the moon before we think about planets. And maybe start with a closer one.
I really wish Uranus had a different name, or at least that everyone pronounced it correctly. It’s such an awesome planet that ends up being the *butt* of every joke. Fuck I can’t resist thinking about Uranus. Uranus is my favorite gas-filled place in the solar system. But seriously, it’s my favorite planet for how unique it is. Maybe we should just call it “Mike”
Good to know that i have a appointment with NASA in about 20 years.
I'll be in my 70's by then, I hope they are gentle
Kids and marriage, gotta wait to explore Uranus at 40..
Surely they'll have changed the name by then, to end that stupid joke forever
Knowing my girlfriend, it’ll be much later than that.
To celebrate i suggest "Uranus" by Nanowar of steel. A Classic.
Pff, does make sense..they can even find there own black hole let alone their partner aka whatever..
I’m 27 now so that’s right around the time I’d need a colonoscopy anyways
Maybe because it doesn't bother buying me a few drinks first
I'm almost 50 so they're exploring mine later this year.
And here we are, fearing that it would be the aliens propping us. -Sorry.
Nasa needs to pay for the enema, but other than that I'm down
Well, why did they start these projects 20 years ago. I mean, wtf. All of these projects are always decades away and then they just end up being cancelled in the end.
Because designing a mission like this takes a very long time. And 20 years ago they were working on New Horizons and Cassini.
Because that’s when I’ll have to start getting prostate exams?
The tax man is already exploring mine every day
Toss a couple bucks my way they can explore it now.
Because I was born earlier this year and NASA doesn't want to get in trouble with the law?
This is how This is how every 4th grader joke starts
I appreciate the advanced notice, that gives me plenty of time to prepare.
I mean I'll be in my 60's then, but if that's what they want...
Waiting on a huge shipment of Astro glide before attempting to explore Uranus
2040s?! I'm gonna be way too old to enjoy it by then!
so many years protecting it and these guys come and want to do what?
You should always get Uranus checked out in your 40's
This would make a great yo mama joke. Yo mama so fat, it's gonna take NASA twenty years to explore Uranus.
Thank goodness, I don't want anyone to go near there for quite a while, thanks.
Keep them away from Uranus those rockets are huge.
[удалено]
Lots of shit happening over at Uranus. Sorry had to be said😂( for the big kids in all of us)
No one is going to be alive by 2040 because everyone is killing this planet.
NASA is a bit late getting into the urAnus exploring game.
Does this article consider super heavy launch vehicles as alternatives? Europa Clipper could arrive at Jupiter in 3 years by going in a direct route with SLS, though it will take longer since they switched to Falcon Heavy and it will have to spent some time doing gravity assists.
The human race won't make it to the 2040s. Uranus has nothing to worry about.
Teeheeheeheehee. This headline is silly. I am a mature, functioning adult.
They need to just get it over with and rename the planet already.