30 Years After Uranus Flyby, Voyager 2 Sails On

On Jan. 24, 1986 — just four days before the space shuttle Challenger exploded during liftoff, killing all seven astronauts aboard — NASA's robotic Voyager 2 probe zoomed by Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun. For example, from Voyager 2's data, mission scientists determined that Uranus is colder than the other seven officially recognized planets — a surprise, given that Uranus is closer to the sun than Neptune is. Voyager 2 data also revealed that Uranus' atmosphere