+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

NASA to probe Uranus, aims to examine Saturn's moon that could support life

Apr 20, 2022, 15:12 IST
IANS
Representative imagePixabay
A team of scientists has urged NASA to probe the ice giant Uranus and look for life on Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons, on priority in the coming decade.
Advertisement

In a report, the team at National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS), recommended NASA to focus on three high-level scientific themes: origins, worlds and processes, and life and habitability, in the next 10 years, Zdnet reported.

Despite the fact that ice giant systems are the most common form of planets in the universe, there is a "dearth of knowledge" about them, said Robin Canup, co-chair of the NAS steering committee for the decadal survey, in a statement.

Ice giants are the only class of planet in our solar system that hasn't had a dedicated orbital tour.

The Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) should be NASA's highest priority large mission, the report said.

Advertisement

The UOP aims to conduct a multi-year orbital tour to transform knowledge of ice giants in general, and the Uranian system in particular, through flybys and the delivery of an atmospheric probe.

"Uranus is one of the most intriguing bodies in the solar system," the report said.

"Its low internal energy, active atmospheric dynamics, and complex magnetic field all present major puzzles. A primordial giant impact may have produced the planet's extreme axial tilt and possibly its rings and satellites, although this is uncertain."

Further, the report stated that NASA's next priority should be the Enceladus Orbilander - a mission to search for evidence of life on Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn.

The mission would take place from orbit and during a two-year landed mission that would perform detailed studies of fresh plume material coming from Enceladus' interior ocean.

Advertisement
The comprehensive decadal report also evaluated a wide range of other missions.

It lauded the progress made studying Mars, as well as NASA's Discovery Programme. It also stresses the potential for combining human and robotic exploration in space.

The report also focused on planetary defence - the effort to detect and track objects like asteroids that could pose a threat to life on Earth.

It recommends a focus on enhancing near-Earth object (NEO) detection, tracking, and characterisation capabilities, as well as the improving NEO modeling and prediction.

It also suggests developing technologies for NEO deflection and disruption missions.

Advertisement
SEE ALSO:
CEO bonus for the top 10 tech giants soared 400% amid pandemic
Netflix share price tanks as the company records its first drop in users since 2011

You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article