The journal Science of Science and Technology of China last year published a paper by scientists from institutions including Beihang University, proposing to launch a nuclear-powered probe into Neptune orbit around 2030. Neptune retains a large amount of gas in the early days of the formation of the solar system, including the state conditions of protostellar clouds and the position information of planet formation; Triton is considered to be a Kuiper belt object captured by Neptune, and will eventually form a halo or collide with Neptune. Carrying out detections such as orbiting, atmospheric entry, and penetration, it is expected to make major scientific discoveries in the origin and evolution of the solar system and planets, and the origin of life. But so far only Voyager 2, launched by the United States in 1977, achieved a short flyby detection of Neptune in 1989. Chinese scientists have proposed launching a three-ton probe powered by a nuclear fission reactor with an output of 10 kWe, carrying four small satellites: two to study Neptune’s atmosphere and two to probe Neptune’s largest moon, Triton.
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