To Uranus and beyond

Known characteristics of the planet Uranus are reviewed, together with a status report on the Voyager spacecraft. Uranus was discovered in 1781, and has been found to have a north pole that is pointed directly at the sun. Data is still needed on the Uranus atmosphere, its possible magnetic field, and its rotation frequency. Five moons have been sighted, accompanied by nine rings. The Voyager 2 spacecraft will encounter Uranus in December 1986 at a 14.7 km/sec velocity, imposing limitations on the observation sequence. The spacecraft carries 11 scientific packages, including a camera, and will pass within 50,000 km of the moon Miranda and 107,000 km of Uranus. Radio signals will be broadcast through the rings, which will be imaged by a UV spectrometer. Voyager 2 will then continue on to a Neptune encounter in 1989 before moving toward interstellar space.