Explore Uranus and bring Mars samples back to earth, NASA in the next decade

Share with friends and circles of friends with wechat scanning QR code < April 20. This week, the American astronomical community released another ten-year survey report on planetary science to determine priorities for planetary science and Astrobiology tasks from 2023 to 2032. The major missions include launching orbiters to Uranus and Enceladus, as well as smaller missions such as returning original samples of Mars, the moon and Ceres to earth at the end of 2021, the US National Academy of Sciences took the lead in releasing a ten-year survey report on astronomy, focusing on the exploration of distant celestial bodies, and suggested giving priority to the construction of large spectral space telescopes the second ten-year survey report released this week focuses on the research of astronomers and planetary scientists on celestial bodies in the solar system. The final implementation depends on whether the planetary science budget can keep up with the rate of inflation major tasks the theme of this ten-year investigation report almost covers the research on large and small objects in the solar system. For example, explore the matter in small celestial bodies in the solar system, so as to infer the details of the formation of planets in the protoplanetary disk; In-depth observation of the planets in the system and tracking the evolution process since its birth. Among them, the research priorities include the formation of the moon, the information of the interior and atmosphere of the planet, and the influencing factors in the process of planetary evolution. In addition, the astronomical community will also focus on the possibility of life in or in the past the most expensive project is Uranus orbiter and probe (UOP). Like the early Galileo and Cassini probes, UOP consists of orbiters and atmospheric detectors, which will plunge into Uranus to provide scientists with more detection information. Ideally, UOP will be completed within the next decade and launched in the window period ending in 2032, flying to Uranus using Jupiter's gravitational assist effect the reason why Uranus was chosen in the ten-year survey report is that before that, humans have done extensive research on the gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn, but only the Voyager probe has visited the ice giant. Exoplanet surveys show that Neptune sized planets are common in other parts of the galaxy, compared with Uranus. Scientists speculate that it was hit in an early stage, causing its rotation axis to move nearly 90 degrees, which is much closer than Neptune with sufficient budget, the ten-year survey report also recommends exploring Enceladus. Scientists believe that Enceladus's subglacial ocean and geysers are constantly releasing some substances into space. The Enceladus orbiter will fly over the plumes of these geysers, analyze their composition, and then land on the planet's surface. The whole plan will last for two years. The report recommends that orbiters be launched in time by 2050, when the orbital change of Enceladus will bring more sunshine to the southern hemisphere with geysers sampling celestial bodies scientists can use a variety of scientific instruments to study in-depth samples of celestial bodies returning to the earth. Inspired by the recent successful return of samples to earth, there will be a variety of similar missions in the next decade among them, the first task is to bring Mars samples back to earth. "The highest scientific priority of NASA's robotic exploration in this decade should be to bring Mars samples back to earth as soon as possible," the survey report concluded This includes sending equipment to Mars and collecting samples currently collected by the perseverance Rover. At present, the details of the project are still being worked out. The survey pointed out that people are generally worried that the budget will surge over time, so it is recommended to limit the budget to $5.3 billion, after which additional funds should be obtained the survey report also recommends investing in the construction of a Mars life probe and landing near the ice far from the polar region of Mars. Scientists have confirmed that there are ice deposits worth studying the report also proposes to build a similar lunar rover and sample return plan for exploring the moon. The lunar rover named "endurance-a" will roam in the large impact crater at the south pole of the moon, collect 100 kg lunar samples, and bring the samples back to earth through the manned lunar landing mission of NASA Artemis program. The rover itself is expected to reach the moon through NASA's $2.6 billion commercial lunar payload service for the medium-sized "new frontier" project, the survey report believes that the new budget can support at least one or two missions, including returning samples of a comet, Ceres or Trojan asteroid to earth other options include launching an orbiting probe to Titan and performing multiple overflights before the Enceladus orbiter goes to the target object. In addition to exploring Saturn, scientists can also choose to install a geophysical monitoring network on the moon or deploy a landing probe on the surface of Venus

not only scientific research

the survey report also studies the budget situation, considering what expenses may need to be cut when budget growth fails to catch up with inflation. NASA's Department of Planetary Sciences has transferred funds for research and analysis to less than 10% of the budget. The survey report believes that this may lead to NASA's inability to obtain complete analysis results from the deployed hardware

finally, the report also mentions Planetary Defense. The 10-year survey report recommended the launch of a survey mission to identify near earth objects that could pose a threat. In addition, the survey report also recommends the development of new technologies to enable rapid intervention when real maintenance is found. (Chen Chen)

2023-03-22 10:04:52

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