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Re:Jupiter Awaits Arrival of Juno by krylon on Monday June 27, 2016 @05:14AM (#11984987)
I did not know Juno used solar panels.

I know that a probe to explore the ice giants would require an RTG (or some other energy source other than solar panels).

Still, I think it would be very interesting to study the ice giants and the respective moons and ring systems more closely.

Re:Jupiter Awaits Arrival of Juno by simonh on Monday June 27, 2016 @05:56AM (#11985116)
It's the first probe going out that far that uses panels, all the previous ones use RTGs. When it was built (launched in 2011) there was a severe Pu-238 shortage; it's still in short supply, but back in production (as of 2013) and so some future long range RTG powered missions might be back on the table.
Re:Jupiter Awaits Arrival of Juno by krylon on Monday June 27, 2016 @11:26AM (#11986768)
Oh well, I guess Uranus will still be around in few years. ;-)
Re:Jupiter Awaits Arrival of Juno by exDM69 on Monday June 27, 2016 @11:50AM (#11986963)
But is Uranus or Neptune in a position that can be reached with gravity assists?

And even if it is, orbital insertion requires a lot of energy, so a flyby is probably the only possible option.

Re:Jupiter Awaits Arrival of Juno by krylon on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:12PM (#11988115)
Mmmh. I can still hope, can't I?

I mean, really, assuming that all of the practical problems of building a probe and getting it to Uranus or Neptune were solved, wouldn't you just love to send it there and explore the $expletive out of them?

Re:Jupiter Awaits Arrival of Juno by exDM69 on Monday June 27, 2016 @02:34PM (#11988347)
Well you can either keep up (false?) hopes or do the maths and see where the planets are located (pretty easy) and are there any potential gravity assists (not as easy, but there are software packages that help).

If you just want to eyeball the situation, take a look at Celestia.

I think orbital insertion is out of question for the outer planets using conventional space craft propulsion because the difference between high radial velocity required to reach the planet and the low tangential velocity of the planet itself is greater than the spacecraft's delta-v budget.

But there won't be another Voyager mission in our lifetimes, a suitable arrangement of planets happens only once in 400 years or so.

Re:Jupiter Awaits Arrival of Juno by simonh on Tuesday June 28, 2016 @05:42AM (#11992508)
"The most favorable launch window for such a probe would be in August 2018, with arrival at Uranus in September 2030".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Uranus

Re:Jupiter Awaits Arrival of Juno by exDM69 on Monday June 27, 2016 @11:47AM (#11986940)
Juno is only possible because of new improvements in solar panels. And even so, it's a relatively low powered space probe at 400 watts. A lot of power is required for radio communication and heating.

Going any further with solar power is not feasible with the technology available today.