Un-boondoggling the ice-planet mission

I had to LOL over Zimmerman's summary of the National Academies' decadal priorities which, being National, they'd like NASA to do. Insert he's right you know Morgan Freeman meme. UPDATE 4/24: not the same document as NASA's actual budget (pdf) but . . .

Zimmerman's post does note the Cassini-Uranus proposal, which this blog has been mooting. It doesn't note Voyager III-Neptune because - Z assumes - NGMI. UPDATE 7/7: and China might be doing an orbital on a nonreusable Long-March. With Uranium Nitride. GLWT.

I say that both planets are similar so both missions will be using similar instruments, so NASA may as well start making those instruments now. Thus: a quick scan of the ice giant on flyby. Radar for the moons. Sensors for how the moon looks in daylight (going up toward the subsystem). All testable at Venus and/or Jupiter en route (Venus is a gas dwarf for this purpose). Aim for as much science to be done in the shortest timespan of intercept, in case it's blasting past (i.e., Neptune).

Personally I think the most value can be had from a Uranus longterm mission, even if we lose the Falcon Heavy [UPDATE 7/11 - note that SuperHeavy doesn't have to be lost]. Voyager III (or whatever the Chinese are doing) can await the results from Uranus; we might get other launch-windows later (maybe from a Deimos colony...?).