Voyager 2’s close encounter with Uranus wasn’t in the original plan
https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/27/40_years_voyager_2_uranus/
Forty years after Voyager 2 flew past Uranus, a mission boffin looks back. It was the first and only Uranus flyby so far, and the data that followed turned out to be a bonus that almost didn’t happen. Budget worries and risky instrument choices nearly shelved the plan, but the team pushed on. Along the way, a simple instruction to pronounce Uranus correctly became a small, memorable moment in a huge space story. The findings—Uranus’ atmosphere, rings, and magnetic field—shaped how we see the outer solar system and showed science can hinge on stubborn focus and practical decisions by people on the ground. Together, the piece folds science history with a human moment, reminding readers that discoveries ride on ordinary choices. It captures how a single word can become a footnote in a mission’s timeline, while the data reveal a world far stranger than expected—one that still teaches us about the edges of our solar system.
