Is NASA On The Cusp Of Sending New Missions To Uranus And Its Ocean Moons? A Rare Launch Window Beckons But Time Is Tight
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecarter...-is-tight/
Make Uranus mission your priority, Nasa told
It's only ever been visited once before, in a brief flyby by the Voyager-2 probe in 1986.
The recommendation is made in a document published by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS).
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalo...ry-science
Known as a "decadal survey", it is the summation of what the American research community thinks are the big planetary science questions right now and the space missions required to answer them.
She said an ice giant was a worthy target for a Nasa flagship and of all the potential candidates assessed in what would be the most expensive class of endeavour, the Uranus mission was the most mature technically.
"It was the only one to receive a low-medium rating for its risk," she explained.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61155725