Uranus, from the HST

The strongly inclined cloud-bands are well visible even here.
Studying Uranus "up close" is one of the next goals of space exploration. This is reiterated by Kathleen Mandt, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
According to a paper published in Science, she argues that NASA should send a probe exclusively to Uranus relatively quickly. Astronomers have indeed studied Mars extensively, both because of its close proximity to Earth and because it has a solid surface on which it is possible to land. However, Mandt believes this approach is flawed.
Although planets with very dense atmospheres are more difficult to study because they lack a surface on which rovers can walk, studying them is essential to understanding their characteristics. And, according to Mandt, we should also act quickly, given that the next "best launch window" would be 2032, when the alignment between Jupiter and Earth will allow a gravitational slingshot to the planet.