Ice Giant Exploration Philosophy: Simple, Affordable

TL;DR

This paper advocates for a simple, cost-effective approach to Ice Giant exploration using small, fast, affordable spacecraft to overcome budget constraints and technological delays, enabling timely planetary science missions.

Contribution

Proposes a series of simple, affordable spacecraft missions utilizing gravity assists and cost-capped designs as a practical alternative to complex flagship missions for Ice Giant exploration.

Findings

Simple spacecraft can achieve scientific goals effectively.

Cost-capped missions enable more frequent exploration.

Gravity assists facilitate timely mission launches.

Abstract

The key to the exploration of the Ice Giant planets is avoiding cutting edge technology. Complexity produces delay and financial roadblocks. Simple robot scouts can be launched in time to utilize gravity assists from Jupiter in the early 2030s. Demands on NASA's budget from large missions, such as Mars sample return, will not allow Flagship missions to Uranus and Neptune in the near term. The science goals of Ice Giant exploration can be accomplished by a series of fast, simple, affordable (FSA) craft. Separate lines of cost-capped Orbiters and Probes would be launched at a cadence dictated by trajectories and funding. Contractors would be selected using competitive Announcements of Opportunity (AO). The march of progress in spacecraft technology offers hope and a path forward. The key is to start small and keep it affordable.