OTD In Space – January 24: Voyager 2 Flies Past Uranus

On January 24, 1986, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Uranus.

This was the first time any spacecraft had ever visited Uranus. Its twin spacecraft, Voyager 1, only made it as far as Saturn before veering out of the plane of the solar system. Voyager 2 flew within 50,600 miles of Uranus and took the first and only close-up photos of the planet. During the encounter, Voyager 2 examined the rings around Uranus and discovered 10 of its 27 known moons. Voyager 2 also found that the planet's magnetic field is a twisted mess thanks to its bizarre sideways orientation. The spacecraft is now on its way out of the solar system and headed towards interstellar space.