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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

NASA has selected 10 studies [nasa.gov] that propose using small satellites to study Venus, the Moon, asteroids (including 99942 Apophis [wikipedia.org]), Mars, Phobos and Deimos, Uranus, and Jupiter:

NASA has selected 10 studies under the Planetary Science Deep Space SmallSat Studies (PSDS3) program to develop mission concepts using small satellites to investigate Venus, Earth's moon, asteroids, Mars and the outer planets.

For these studies, small satellites are defined as less than 180 kilograms in mass (about 400 pounds). CubeSats [nasa.gov] are built to standard specifications of 1 unit (U), which is equal to about 4x4x4 inches (10x10x10 centimeters). They often are launched into orbit as auxiliary payloads, significantly reducing costs.

One standout would use an atmospheric probe to measure "vertical cloud structure, stratification, and winds to help understand the chemical and physical processes that shape the atmosphere of Uranus". If launched, it would be the first mission to Uranus [wikipedia.org] since Voyager 2 [wikipedia.org].

Also at The Space Reporter [thespacereporter.com].

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