Part 9/11:
Historically, mission planning for Uranus has faced a significant backlog due to its distance—almost three billion kilometers from the Sun. Voyager 2’s journey through the outer solar system exemplifies this issue, taking nine years to traverse towards Uranus while demonstrating how gravity assists can halve estimated travel times.
The Neglected Ice Giants
Despite a myriad of planned missions towards outer planets, many have been overshadowed or outright canceled, primarily for budgetary reasons. Because Uranus and Neptune are notoriously challenging to access, they require even more intricate planning and advanced propulsion systems.