Mission to mysterious ice giant Uranus proposed
Baku, January 27 (AZERTAC). In a proposal submitted to the European Space Agency (ESA), a mission called Uranus Pathfinder has been short listed to make the trek to the outer solar system, arrive in Uranian orbit and study the planet`s unique chemistry, rings, and its moons and investigate some of the planet`s most enduring mysteries. This, in turn, will aid our knowledge of solar system history and how other star systems may form.
Chris Arridge, postdoctoral research fellow of University College London`s Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) and project lead, told Discovery News that the motivation behind Uranus Pathfinder mission is to investigate a giant outer solar system planet that we know little about.
Uranus and Neptune are very different from their other gas giant cousins. Their thick clouds of atmospheric gases contain water, methane and ammonia, plus trace amounts of hydrocarbons. It is for this reason that Uranus and Neptune are often dubbed "ice giants" as they contain significant quantities of ices in their atmospheres. (In contrast, Jupiter and Saturn are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium.)
Whereas the Jovian and Saturnian systems have been studied in-depth by the Galileo and Cassini Equinox missions, the outer ice giants remain a mystery. And things don`t get much more mysterious (and down-right bizarre) than oddball Uranus.
One of the most striking things about Uranus is the fact that it orbits the sun virtually on its side. The planet literally "rolls" around the solar system. During its 84 year orbit, each pole spends 42 years facing the sun and then 42 years in perpetual winter. Uranus` weather is driven by these extreme seasons.
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