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The exploration of Uranus has, to date, been through telescopes and a lone probe by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, which made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986. Voyager 2 discovered 10 moons , studied the planet's cold atmosphere , and examined its ring system , discovering two new rings.
Voyager 2 is the only space probe to have visited the Uranus system, completing a flyby on January 24, 1986. The 2011-2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey recommended a Flagship-class orbiter mission to an ice giant with priority behind what would become the Mars 2020 rover and the Europa Clipper.
MUSE (Mission to Uranus for Science and Exploration [3]) is a European proposal for a dedicated mission to the planet Uranus to study its atmosphere, interior, moons, rings, and magnetosphere. [ 2 ] [ 4 ] It is proposed to be launched with an Ariane 6 in 2026, travel for 16.5 years to reach Uranus in 2044, and would operate until 2050.
A solar wind event squashed the protective bubble around Uranus just before Voyager 2 flew by the planet in 1986, shifting how astronomers understood the mysterious world.
Illustrations depict how Uranus' magnetosphere, or protective bubble, was behaving before Voyager 2's arrival (left) and during the spacecraft's flyby (right).
The length of a day on Uranus as measured by Voyager 2 is 17 hours, 14 minutes. [49] Uranus was shown to have a magnetic field that was misaligned with its rotational axis, unlike other planets that had been visited to that point, [50] [53] and a helix-shaped magnetic tail stretching 10 million kilometers (6 million miles) away from the Sun. [50]
Alone but certainly unique, Uranus rotates at a nearly 90-degree angle and is surrounded by 13 icy rings. Images of which were captured in rich detail last year by the James Webb Space Telescope .
Company name Contracts for Craft utilised Status Notes Refs Axiom Space: SpaceX: Crew Dragon: Active SpaceX Axiom Space-1 launched in April 2022 [280] [281] Benson Space Company: SpaceDev: Dream Chaser: Defunct [282] MirCorp: none: Soyuz TM, Progress M1 and Mir: Defunct Mir deorbited Space Adventures - Soyuz and the ISS: Active 9 tourists sent ...