NASA Wants To Probe Deeper Into Uranus Than Ever Before

Until recently, NASA hasn't paid much attention to Uranus, but the space agency now wants to take a good, long look at it. And all that gas might be one of the things it's looking at, as Uranus is a gas giant.

A NASA team proposed four missions to the ice giants Uranus and Neptune, involving three orbiters and a fly-by of Uranus.

Amy Simon, co-chair of the Ice Giants Pre-Decadal Study group, said: ‘The preferred mission is an orbiter with an atmospheric probe to either Uranus or Neptune – this provides the highest science value, and allows in depth study of all aspects of either planet’s system: rings, satellites, atmosphere, magnetosphere,’

According to NASA, the projected probes would launch in the 2030s. One of the proposed missions is a fly-by of Uranus with a narrow-angle camera – and a probe that will drop into Uranus' atmosphere to detect gas and heavy components.

There are four proposed missions: three orbiters and a fly-by of Uranus with a narrow-angle camera to extract details, particularly of the ice giant's moons. It would also launch an atmospheric probe into Uranus' atmosphere to test the amounts of gas and heavy elements.

You can read more about these proposed missions here on NASA's website.