Speleology meteorology and cartography to develop portraits of caves as complex, evolving systems. Prior to the mid-nineteenth century the scientific value of caves was considered only in its contribution to other branches of science, and cave studies were considered part of the larger disciplines of geography, geology or archaeology. Very little cave-specific study was undertaken prior to the work of Édouard-Alfred Martel (1859–1938), the 'father of modern speleology', who through his extensive and well-publicised cave explorations introduced in France the concept of speleology as a distinct area of study. In 1895 Martel founded the Société de Spéléologie, the first organization devoted
Exploration of Neptune academic groups have proposed and worked on future scientific missions to visit Neptune. Some mission plans are still active, while others have been abandoned or put on hold. After the "Voyager" flyby, NASA's next step in scientific exploration of the Neptune system is considered to be a flagship orbiter mission. Such a hypothetical mission is envisioned to be possible in the late 2020s or early 2030s. Another one proposed for the 2040s is called the Neptune-Triton Explorer (NTE). NASA has researched several other project options for both flyby and orbiter missions (of similar design as the "Cassini–Huygens" mission to Saturn).