Uranus and Neptune: The forgotten Worlds

[hansolo0]

Are there any upcoming missions planned for Uranus and or Neptune orbiters?<br />Seems like you never hear about these planets or any upcoming missions to them. A lander to one of the moons would be great to. If they could somehow<br />include it to be mobile, etc also would be cool. If anyone can provide a link to future mission plans, etc , that'd be great

 

[CalliArcale]

There was a Neptune Orbiter study, but as far as I know, nothing's ever gotten beyond a paper stage.<br /><br />Uranus orbiters have an interesting challenge; the planet has an axis tilted a little over 90 degrees, so inserting into a useful orbit isn't trivial. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[n_kitson]

Boeing received a grant to study a Neptune Orbiter with Probes mission. However, with the death of Project Prometheus, I think this mission dies as well.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I expect we're going to see a lot of great mission concepts being abandoned in the next few years.

 

[vogon13]

At a very informal level, some interesting ideas regarding a Neptune mission are being discussed.<br /><br /><br />The Triton atmosphere might be quite useful for braking a Neptune or Triton orbiter, and it may be quite useful for a Triton lander.<br /><br />Most Neptune orbiter missions so far, resemble the Cassini/Huygens concept.<br /><br />The mass ratio of Neptune to Triton favors a probe utilizing gravity assists at Triton for orbit modifications to explore the Neptune system.<br /><br />{The Triton atmosphere may seem too thin for aerobraking, but it is quite deep and a relatively light ballute structure has been propsed for decel manuveur there. Computer simulations so far show the idea to be practical, decels of 40 to 50 gees seem doable.}<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

The New Horizons team working on the Pluto probe already has a mission proposal for Uranus flyby, Kuiper Belt mission. There are some links on the New Horizons I & II mission update thread. <br /><br />SDC had an article on it in June 2004 Here <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[mikejz]

Those two planets seem like a great place to try aerocapture. <br /><br />I wonder about the feasability of using an electrodynamic tether might prove to be a viable power source as well.

 

[bushuser]

Yes, aerocapture seems the cheap and elegant way to establish orbit. The ballute might be used for a Triton landing.<br /><br />Let me display some ignorance. I always assumed that "landing" on these gas giants was unfeasable, like attempting landing on Jupiter or Saturn. Certainly a landing on Triton makes sense.

 

[vogon13]

Similar ballute technology enables a variety of Pluto missions, too.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[mikejz]

Do you think we could get enought data on Triton to design a lander, without sending another mission there first?

 

[nacnud]

Rather than a gas giant landing how about an areostat (baloon) insead.

 

[CalliArcale]

I would think the main problem with balloons on gas giants or with electrostatic tethers for power would be that it would constrain the mission to a region famously hostile to electronics. Of course, Jupiter's radiation environment is by far the worst, but I don't think it's all that friendly at Uranus or Neptune either. It might not be doable with current electronics, or would at least require better characterization of the environment near these giant planets.<br /><br />Regarding a lander on Triton, yes it would be possible to design one with current information. I would think the trickiest thing would be coping with the fact that Triton orbits Neptune retrograde. Will this constrain the orbiter to a retrograde orbit, in order to acheive a favorable landing for the Triton probe? Or can the probe be built to acheive enough delta-vee to land safely on Triton from a prograde Neptune-centric orbit? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

For those interested in detailed discussions on possible Uranus and Neptune missions, check http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showforum=54. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vogon13]

I haven't done the math (<img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />) but considering the mass ratio of Neptune/Triton, an initial orbit of either orientation can be converted to an orbit of the other orientation with out too many flybys of Triton (I'm thinking 25 to 50). A great benefit of flying this trajectory would be an amazing amount of data on the Neptunian magnetic field from all inclinations. That one detail is probably justification for the whole mission as it may give us enough info to understand all gas giant magnetic fields.<br /><br />An additional technique for converting a retro-grade orbit to a prograde one (or vice versa) is to 'pump' up the apoapsis of the orbit to a very large value and do a small manuver at your furthest excursion from Neptune. ( A similar technique has been proposed for an antisatellite mission at earth. A craft could fly out from earth. 'Flip' the orbit, and return towards earth to brake into a retrograde geo-synchronous orbit. Release a bucket of sand, and destroy all the GEO satellites in one fell swoop. Rather easy to do in fact).<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[hansolo0]

Great links guys , thanks!