Uranus Orbiter and Probe

Mmm, what about Shakespeare for the orbiter? More innuendo aside, most of the moons in the planet's system is named after characters he created. And Le Verrier for the probe. It would also be a nice blend of art and science.
 
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i afraid that this naming contest will get out of control !
see British Exploration vessel that do a contest, was named “Boaty McBoatface”

i mean that people will propose names like colonoscopy or even totally outrageously names.
Let hope NASA has last word in the matter...
 
Michel Van said:
i afraid that this naming contest will get out of control !
see British Exploration vessel that do a contest, was named “Boaty McBoatface”

i mean that people will propose names like colonoscopy or even totally outrageously names.
Let hope NASA has last word in the matter...
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I think that will happen too Michel Van, let’s see what happens when the suggestions get sent and see NASAs response. After the Boaty McBoatface issue I will think that NASA will have learned from that and immediately bin the stupid reply’s.
 
Here's one; Fullfyllan, after the old English word for 'Fulfill'.

EDIT: If the probe was one that going to Jupiter or even Saturn, I would suggest Elizabeth R.
 
Probus Proctorum. First NASA tracking station may located in Intercourse, PA butt NASA could get screwed over though, the Amish can be brutal, very anal regarding procedures. I heard initial planning for the mission was briefed in a document code named Preparation H?
 
That is a shame Flyaway, of all the planets that remain unexplored Uranus and Neptune deserve to have an orbiter mission especially Neptune with it's moon Triton. That has unanswered questions since the Voyager 2 flyby. I suppose that it can wait until the next round of funding for NASA.
 
European space scientists have been urged to join forces with Nasa to ensure the success of one of the most ambitious space missions planned for launch this century.

Joining a robot spaceflight to the mysterious planet Uranus would offer “the opportunity to participate in a groundbreaking, flagship-class mission”, astrophysicists have said.


The call was made in Nature, the leading science journal, in a special editorial which exhorted the European Space Agency (Esa) to form an international partnership with Nasa. Such cooperation would ensure that the Uranus mission – which would involve putting a robot spacecraft in orbit round the planet and dropping a probe into its thick, icy atmosphere – is completed in time and on budget.
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www.theguardian.com

‘Once in a lifetime’: UK and European space scientists urged to join Nasa mission to Uranus

Astrophysicists call for international cooperation on ambitious probe, amid growing interest in the mysterious planet
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
So they should, it is quite clear that NASA cannot afford to go to either Uranus or Neptune on it's own, so the sooner ESA and the UK space scientists join the mission the better.
 
No doubt the spacecraft that would be probing Uranus would be based on the Cassini orbiter and lander, there also needs to be a similar mission to Neptune too with both missions having atmospheric probes to be dropped into the two Ice-giants atmospheres.
 
That is what I have been saying all along NMaude, I cannot see a mission to either Uranus or Neptune before the start of the next decade and that would not arrive until the 2040s at the earliest depending on the launch window.
 
Same here NMaude, I would not try and hold my breath for too long about NASA sending a probe to Uranus.
 
For the Moment is only one mission in planning stage
Chinese probe Tianwen-4

launch in 2029 it will take 6 years to reach Jupiter
before arrival at Jupiter Tianwen-4 will separate Uranus fly by probe
this will be catapult by Jupiter swing by to Uranus were fly by in march 2045.

Gb0mYEgbwAEjnc-
 
Wonder if that will move NASA up a gear and make them actually fund a much faster mission to Uranus that gets there quicker than the Chinese mission.
 
Michel Van said:
For the Moment is only one mission in planning stage
Chinese probe Tianwen-4

launch in 2029 it will take 6 years to reach Jupiter
before arrival at Jupiter Tianwen-4 will separate Uranus fly by probe
this will be catapult by Jupiter swing by to Uranus were fly by in march 2045.

Gb0mYEgbwAEjnc-
Click to expand...
I wonder if I will ever live to see it to 2045 ....

Does China has a DSN equivalent?
 
Aerocapture Technology Demonstration Mission Request for Information [Jan 6]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) is in the early stages of developing a mission design, project implementation plan, and procurement strategy that could potentially lead to an Earth aerocapture technology demonstration mission. NASA LaRC is hereby soliciting information from potential sources with the capabilities to provide spacecraft systems and mission operations for the mission.

The mission would demonstrate aerocapture at Earth as a precursor to using the technology for future planetary science missions. Aerocapture technology reduces the required capability and mass of a spacecraft propulsion system, lowering the launch vehicle payload mass or enabling more capacity for science instruments, and is particularly beneficial for missions to the Solar System's ice giant planets [1]. The demonstration mission is intended to focus on key objectives necessary to mature the technological readiness of aerocapture including vehicle aerodynamics, flight dynamics, guidance, navigation and control, and mission operations. Flight data will be acquired during the demonstration and used to improve and validate tools to design and plan future missions.

NASA is considering two concepts for the mission, both of which use a small entry capsule (referred to as the Aerocapture Flight System, or AFS) to execute the aerocapture maneuver. The AFS is comprised of an aeroshell, reaction control system, other ancillary systems, and a SmallSat that is released into Earth orbit. The first mission concept utilizes a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) as an initial state for the AFS, which is deployed into GTO from an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA). In the second concept, the AFS is released on an Earth intercept trajectory from a spacecraft returning from a lunar mission. A preliminary concept of operations (ConOps) for a GTO-based aerocapture demonstration is illustrated in Figure 1 (attached). Details shown regarding orbit altitudes are for reference only, and will continue to be resolved (TBR) in upcoming design trades.

[...]

References:

[1] "Uranus Flagship-class Orbiter and Probe using Aerocapture," AIAA 2024-0714, AIAA SciTech Forum, Orlando, Florida, January 2024.
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A Comparison of Bank Control and Direct Force Control for Aerocapture at Uranus [Jan 6]

We present Monte Carlo results and discuss differences between the performance of the two control approaches. We find that increased bank angle rate and acceleration limits do not increase the performance of the bank control configuration. We analyze a variation with tighter angle of attack bounds and find that the tuning and performance of the two configurations converges, because direct force control is less able to modulate drag.
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