The line, Then felt I like some watcher of the skies

In 1986, NASA's Voyager 2 interplanetary probe encountered Uranus. This flyby remains the only investigation of the planet carried out from a short distance, and no other visits are currently planned. Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986, coming within 81,500 kilometers of Uranus's cloudtops, before continuing its journey to Neptune. Voyager 2 studied the structure and chemical composition of Uranus's atmosphere,[69] including its unique weather, caused by its axial tilt of 97.77°. It made the first detailed investigations of its five largest moons, and discovered 10 new moons. It examined all nine of the system's known rings and discovered two new ones.[16][83][122] It also studied the magnetic field, its irregular structure, its tilt and its unique corkscrew magnetotail caused by Uranus's sideways orientation.[91]

The possibility of sending the Cassini spacecraft to Uranus was evaluated during a mission extension planning phase in 2009.[123] It would take about twenty years to get to the Uranian system after departing Saturn.[123] A Uranus orbiter and probe was recommended by the 2013–2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey published in 2011; the proposal envisages launch during 2020–2023 and a 13-year cruise to Uranus.[124] A Uranus entry probe could use Pioneer Venus Multiprobe heritage and descend to 1–5 atmospheres.[124] The ESA evaluated a "medium-class" mission called Uranus Pathfinder.[125] A New Frontiers Uranus Orbiter has been evaluated and recommended in the study, The Case for a Uranus Orbiter.[126] Such a mission is aided by the ease with which a relatively big mass can be sent to the system—over 1500 kg with an Atlas 521 and 12-year journey.[127] For more concepts see Proposed Uranus missions.

In culture

In astrology, the planet Uranus (Uranus's astrological symbol.svg) is the ruling planet of Aquarius. Since Uranus is colored cyan and Uranus is associated with electricity, the color electric blue, a color close to cyan, is associated with the sign Aquarius.[128] (See Uranus in astrology)

The chemical element uranium, discovered in 1789 by the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth, was named after the newly discovered planet Uranus.[129] Uranus, the Magician is a movement in Gustav Holst's The Planets, written between 1914 and 1916. Operation Uranus was the successful military operation in World War II by the Soviet army to take back Stalingrad and marked the turning point in the land war against the Wehrmacht.

The line, Then felt I like some watcher of the skies/When a new planet swims into his ken, from John Keats's On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer is a reference to Herschel's discovery of Uranus