The Starship space system was developed as a means of transporting people to the Moon and Mars. However, scientists are confident that it is quite capable of launching probes to other planets. It is quite possible that it will reduce the travel time to distant Uranus by half.
Scientists’ interest in Uranus
Ice giants remain one of the most interesting places to explore in the Solar System. Uranus has been getting a lot of attention lately, especially after it was named the top research priority in the National Academy of Sciences’ 2022 Decadal Survey. But at this point, we still don’t have a fully developed and planned mission ready to launch in the 2030s.
However, this may even be an advantage, as a new system appearing on the network could radically change the overall design of the mission. Starship has recently continued its series of successful tests, and a new paper presented at the IEEE Aerospace Conference by MIT researchers examines how this new, much more powerful launch system could impact the development of the Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP).
Uranus is one of the least explored planets—the last probe to visit it was Voyager 2 during its flyby 40 years ago. Neither it nor its icy giant cousin Neptune have ever been visited by orbital spacecraft, and have no permanent missions in their system, making them the only two planets that have not yet been explored in detail up close.
It’s not because of a lack of interest. Uranus has many remarkable features that further study could help explain. It lies on its side, has a rather unstable magnetic field, and has many moons that may hide oceans beneath their icy surfaces. Moreover, planets similar to Uranus are among the most common exoplanets we have discovered in the Solar System so far, so a detailed study of this system will help us better understand other worlds.
How to get to Uranus?
The problem is that Uranus is far away. It is 19 times farther from the Sun than Earth, and it took Voyager more than nine and a half years to reach this system, and the probe did not even attempt to slow down to remain in it.
Previous calculations, made during a ten-year study, suggested using a Falcon Heavy launch vehicle and several gravitational maneuvers using other planets, but ultimately it would take more than 13 years to reach Uranus. That is how long it takes to support the mission both operationally and financially, and that is how long it may take for key personnel to move on to other jobs or, judging by NASA’s recent history, be sent on vacation. Therefore, it is definitely better to deliver UOP to its final destination faster.
Despite a series of unsuccessful tests earlier this year, SpaceX’s revolutionary rocket system finally achieved success thanks to a successful test earlier this week. If it continues its positive trajectory, it could be ready for regular use by the end of the decade, making it a viable option for use as a UOP carrier.
Advantages of Starship as a launch vehicle
In addition to its increased payload capacity, two other aspects of Starship’s capabilities make it interesting for the UOP mission. The first is its ability to refuel in orbit.
SpaceX ensured that the system could store and remove fuel in orbit, allowing it to reach its destinations much faster than other systems, which have to lift fuel exclusively from the ground. Although this capability has not yet been demonstrated, further testing of Starship will undoubtedly begin to do so, opening up entirely new possibilities for the speed of probes to the farthest corners of the Solar System.
Another possibility is to use Starship itself as an aerodynamic shield. In the article, researchers explored the idea of using Starship, already designed to withstand heat upon entering the atmospheres of Earth and Mars, as a shield against heat caused by aerodynamic braking in Uranus’ atmosphere. They discovered that with minor modifications, the fundamental principle could work. Instead of separating from the probe after accelerating it, in this case Starship will accompany UOP to the Uranus system, using its heat shield as an air brake to slow the probe from its interplanetary speed and remain in the system.
According to calculations presented in the article, combining refueling in space with the use of Starship as an aeroturbine could cut the time to reach Uranus in half, to six and a half years.
Prospects for flying to Uranus
Considering all this, UOP is still far from reality, and Starship is not yet ready for aerodynamic braking of the probe in the atmosphere of the ice giant.
Although this is the highest priority identified in the ten-year study, it is currently unclear whether UOP will receive the green light for funding, and given the current instability and situation at NASA, this is likely to remain unclear for some time.
If we miss the launch window in the 2030s, the next favorable launch window will be in the mid-2040s, which means that there will be almost 70 years between missions to this most interesting of worlds. All enthusiasts of planetary science and space exploration should hope that the organizations that could support such a mission will join forces and support a return trip there, regardless of whether Starship is used for this purpose.
According to phys.org
