The icy planet, four times larger than Earth, is the archetype of the new exoplanets that scientists have discovered in recent years.
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To Uranus and beyond. An influential panel of scientists from the American Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is calling for NASA to focus its efforts on the seventh planet in the solar system, which was explored only once by the traveling probe in 1986. Scientists confirmed In this document That a detailed study of Uranus will make it possible to learn a lot about the recently discovered exoplanets, which are four times larger than Earth, and covered with ice, like Uranus.
In a previous document published by the same academy in 2011, the US space agency followed several recommendations. Priority was given to exploring Mars, collecting rocks from the Red Planet, as well as sending a probe to Jupiter and its moon Europa, which is planned for 2024.
“We think we understand a planet the size of Jupiter, or Earth. But, between the two, there’s a class of planets that we don’t understand, and how they grow to eventually reach the size of Jupiter. A mission toward Uranus could help us out there.”explains Lee Fletcher, a scientist at the University of Leicester, in BBC. There is a window of opportunity to reach the icy planet in “only” 13 years, between 2031 and 2032.
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