Exploration of Uranus cloud tops. This was the probe's first solo planetary flyby, since "Voyager 1" ended its tour of the outer planets at Saturn's moon Titan. Uranus is the third-largest planet in the Solar System. It orbits the Sun at a distance of about and completes one orbit every 84 years. The length of a day on Uranus as measured by "Voyager 2" is 17 hours and 14 minutes. Uranus is distinguished by the fact that it is tipped on its side. Its unusual position is thought to be the result of a collision with a planet-sized body early in the Solar
Exploration of Uranus In 2011, the United States National Research Council recommended a Uranus orbiter and probe as the third priority for a NASA Flagship mission by the NASA Planetary Science Decadal Survey. However, this mission is considered to be lower-priority than future missions to Mars and the Jovian System.<ref name="2013-2022/Decadal"></ref> A mission to Uranus is one of several proposed uses under consideration for the unmanned variant of NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) currently in development. The SLS would reportedly be capable of launching up to 1.7 metric tons to Uranus. In 2013, it was proposed to use an electric sail (E-Sail)