--- title: "Top Scientists Call on NASA to Probe Uranus" description: "The world's top scientists have spoken — and they want to see Uranus. " date: "2022-04-19" modified: "2022-04-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-nasa-probe-uranus" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "astrobiology" - "planetary science" - "the digest" - "uranus" --- # Top Scientists Call on NASA to Probe Uranus ![The world's top scientists have spoken — and they want to see Uranus. ]() *\Image: NASA/Futurism\* ## Paging Kanye The world's top scientists have spoken — and they want to see Uranus, in greater detail than ever before. A survey released every decade [by the prestigious National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine]() reveals the research wish list for the world's top planetary scientists and astrobiologists. And this time around, it includes probing Uranus. The "Origins, Worlds, and Life" survey published by the National Academies Press contains all kinds of fascinating morsels, including that scientists consider getting Mars rocks a "top priority," and that they want to inspect Saturn's Enceladus moon for life. But, predictably, it's the Uranus probe that's got the Twittersphere all a-titter. "It is time to send a probe to Uranus!" *The Verge*'s [Loren Grush tweeted](). "Yes, laugh about it all you want, but a mission to Uranus is considered the highest priority program the planetary science community wants to see happen over the next decade." https://twitter.com/scalzi/status/1516486454247108608 ## To Boldly Go Indeed, probing Uranus is one of the most important items on this scientist wish list because, to put it plainly, no one's ever really gone there, save for a fly-by in 1986 when NASA's Voyager 2 probe came within about 50,000 miles of the gas giant. Uranus is considered an "ice giant," a classification which, according to Southwest Research Institute's Robin Canup, the co-chair of the steering committee that helped pick these scientific priorities and [spoke to *NPR*]() about them, is "likely the most common class of planets in the universe." "We saw this mission as delivering absolutely transformative, breakthrough science because we know so little about these systems," Canup told *NPR*. "We are sure there are going to be lots of surprises once we get there." Surprises in Uranus — who'd have thunk? **READ MORE:** [NASA advisers call for a visit to Uranus, plus more science during moon landings]() \[*NPR*\] **More quips about the seventh planet:** [*Here’s What Uranus Scientists Think About Your Disgusting Jokes*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()