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The Uranus Orbiter and Probe is an orbiter mission concept to study Uranus and its moons. [1] The orbiter would also deploy an atmospheric probe to characterize Uranus's atmosphere . The concept is being developed as a potential large strategic science mission for NASA .
The exploration of Uranus has, to date, been through telescopes and a lone probe by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986. Voyager 2 discovered 10 moons , studied the planet's cold atmosphere , and examined its ring system , discovering two new rings.
The atmosphere of Uranus is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. At depth, it is significantly enriched in volatiles (dubbed "ices") such as water , ammonia , and methane . The opposite is true for the upper atmosphere, which contains very few gases heavier than hydrogen and helium due to its low temperature.
When the Voyager 2 spacecraft became the first and only mission to fly by Uranus in 1986, it defined the way astronomers understand the ice giant. But the data collected by the probe also ...
Uranus Orbiter and Probe: Not earlier than 2031 [126] Falcon Heavy: NASA: Orbiter In progress Proposed to study Uranus and its moons, along with deploying an atmospheric probe to analyze Uranus's atmosphere. [126] 6 Uranus Pathfinder: Uranus Pathfinder: 2022, [127] in baseline concept January 2025 N/A, in baseline concept an Atlas V 551 ESA ...
Uranus, blue-green in color due to the methane contained in an atmosphere comprised mostly of hydrogen and helium, has a diameter of about 31,500 miles (50,700 km). It is big enough to fit 63 ...
MUSE (Mission to Uranus for Science and Exploration [3]) is a European proposal for a dedicated mission to the planet Uranus to study its atmosphere, interior, moons, rings, and magnetosphere. [ 2 ] [ 4 ] It is proposed to be launched with an Ariane 6 in 2026, travel for 16.5 years to reach Uranus in 2044, and would operate until 2050.
Uranus's upper atmosphere imaged by HST during the Outer Planet Atmosphere Legacy (OPAL) observing program. [ 109 ] The middle layer of the Uranian atmosphere is the stratosphere , where temperature generally increases with altitude from 53 K (−220 °C; −364 °F) in the tropopause to between 800 and 850 K (527 and 577 °C; 980 and 1,070 °F ...