Scientists are discussing the prospects for the future Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission, which is set to fly to Uranus to study its moons. There is speculation that the spacecraft has a good chance of detecting subsurface oceans on several of them.
Uranus Orbiter and Probe
At the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, scientists presented research on the prospects for the Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission. It is scheduled to be launched to Uranus in the early 2030s and is considered one of the most important missions in the US space exploration plans for the current decade.
One of the main tasks facing the Uranus Orbiter and Probe will be to study the five largest moons of the seventh planet from the Sun: Titania, Oberon, Ariel, Umbriel, and Miranda. All of them are icy worlds, and scientists suspect that there are oceans of liquid water beneath their surfaces.
Since the spacecraft will not land on the surface but will simply circle around the gas giant, occasionally approaching its moons, the question arises as to whether they will be able to detect anything hidden beneath the surface under such conditions.
Research methods
The study claims that this is possible thanks to a combination of optical and radar equipment installed on the vehicle. Scientists are particularly interested in the possibility of tracking satellite librations. This is the name given to deviations in their rotation from synchronicity with the movement around the planet.
One possible cause of libration could be subsurface oceans. However, the Uranus Orbiter and Probe will only be able to see them if they are very thin shells no more than a few dozen meters thick. If the oceans are deeper, the libration oscillations will be too weak.
Future plans
To date, only one spacecraft has visited Uranus. The Voyager 2 probe flew past it in 1986 and did not have time to properly examine all of its moons. Therefore, the Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission is considered one of the most important missions of the next decade.
Years will pass before the probe is launched. Its arrival in the Uranus system is not expected until the 2040s, but questions about the effectiveness of the mission are already being raised. Since the mission to explore Saturn’s moon Enceladus is almost as urgent as the Uranus Orbiter and Probe, and budgets are constantly being cut.
According to phys.org
