Space Topics: Uranus
Missions to Uranus
Only one spacecraft has ever visited Uranus.
“Grand Tour” flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
Launch: August 20, 1977
Uranus encounter: November 4, 1985 to February 25, 1986
Voyager 2 flew by Uranus on January 24, 1986, coming within 81,500 kilometers
(50,600 miles) of the planet's cloud tops. The spacecraft took almost 8,000
images of the planet, its moons and its dark ring system. The planet itself
appeared as a vague, nearly featureless ball covered by a greenish blue methane
haze. Although Voyager 2 performed a survey of Uranus’ moons, it
passed by when tilted Uranus was at the height of southern summer, meaning that
only the moons’ southern hemispheres were visible. Voyager 2 had
to pass very close by Uranus to get the gravity assist necessary to send it
on to Neptune. The close flyby altitude, combined with the vertical, “bull’s-eye” pattern
of Uranus’ tilted system of rings and moons, meant that Voyager 2 saw
only Miranda close-up; the rest of the moons were seen only distantly. The Voyager
2 images yielded the discoveries of 10 new moons.
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