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Lessons learned from (and since) the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune

More than 30 years have passed since the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune. This paper outlines a range of lessons learned from Voyager, broadly grouped into ‘process, planning and people.’ In terms of process, we must be open to new concepts, whether new instrument technologies, new propulsion...

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Autor principal: Hammel, Heidi B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society Publishing 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7658786/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33161855
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0485
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author Hammel, Heidi B.
author_facet Hammel, Heidi B.
author_sort Hammel, Heidi B.
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description More than 30 years have passed since the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune. This paper outlines a range of lessons learned from Voyager, broadly grouped into ‘process, planning and people.’ In terms of process, we must be open to new concepts, whether new instrument technologies, new propulsion systems or operational modes. Examples from recent decades that could open new vistas in the exploration of the deep outer Solar System include the Cassini Resource Exchange and the ‘sleep’ mode from the New Horizons mission. Planning is crucial: mission gaps that last over three decades leave much scope for evolution both in mission development and in the targets themselves. The science is covered in other papers in this issue, but this paper addresses the structure of the US Planetary Decadal Surveys, with a specific urging to move from a ‘destination-based’ organization to a structure based on fundamental science. Coordination of distinct and divergent international planning timelines brings both challenges and opportunity. Complexity in the funding and political processes is amplified when multiple structures must be navigated; but the science is enriched by the diversity of international perspectives, as were represented at the Ice Giant discussion meeting that motivated this review. Finally, the paper turns to people: with generational-length gaps between missions, continuity in knowledge and skills requires careful attention to people. Lessons for the next generation of voyagers include: how to lead and inspire; how to develop the perspective to see their missions through decades-long development phases; and cultivation of strategic thinking, altruism and above all, patience. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Future exploration of ice giant systems’.
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spelling pubmed-76587862020-11-12 Lessons learned from (and since) the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune Hammel, Heidi B. Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci Articles More than 30 years have passed since the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune. This paper outlines a range of lessons learned from Voyager, broadly grouped into ‘process, planning and people.’ In terms of process, we must be open to new concepts, whether new instrument technologies, new propulsion systems or operational modes. Examples from recent decades that could open new vistas in the exploration of the deep outer Solar System include the Cassini Resource Exchange and the ‘sleep’ mode from the New Horizons mission. Planning is crucial: mission gaps that last over three decades leave much scope for evolution both in mission development and in the targets themselves. The science is covered in other papers in this issue, but this paper addresses the structure of the US Planetary Decadal Surveys, with a specific urging to move from a ‘destination-based’ organization to a structure based on fundamental science. Coordination of distinct and divergent international planning timelines brings both challenges and opportunity. Complexity in the funding and political processes is amplified when multiple structures must be navigated; but the science is enriched by the diversity of international perspectives, as were represented at the Ice Giant discussion meeting that motivated this review. Finally, the paper turns to people: with generational-length gaps between missions, continuity in knowledge and skills requires careful attention to people. Lessons for the next generation of voyagers include: how to lead and inspire; how to develop the perspective to see their missions through decades-long development phases; and cultivation of strategic thinking, altruism and above all, patience. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Future exploration of ice giant systems’. The Royal Society Publishing 2020-12-25 2020-11-09 /pmc/articles/PMC7658786/ /pubmed/33161855 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0485 Text en © 2020 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Articles
Hammel, Heidi B.
Lessons learned from (and since) the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune
title Lessons learned from (and since) the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune
title_full Lessons learned from (and since) the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune
title_fullStr Lessons learned from (and since) the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune
title_full_unstemmed Lessons learned from (and since) the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune
title_short Lessons learned from (and since) the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune
title_sort lessons learned from (and since) the voyager 2 flybys of uranus and neptune
topic Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7658786/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33161855
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0485
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