Uranus (mythology) three one-hundred-handed giants the Hekatonkheires, and the one-eyed giants the Cyclopes. Uranus imprisoned Gaia's youngest children in Tartarus, deep within Earth, where they caused pain to Gaia. She shaped a great flint-bladed sickle and asked her sons to castrate Uranus. Only Cronus, youngest and most ambitious of the Titans, was willing: he ambushed his father and castrated him, casting the severed testicles into the sea. For this fearful deed, Uranus called his sons Titanes Theoi, or "Straining Gods." From the blood that spilled from Uranus onto the Earth came forth the Giants, the Erinyes (the avenging Furies), the Meliae (the
Exploration of Uranus Exploration of Uranus The exploration of Uranus has, to date, been solely through telescopes and NASA's "Voyager 2" spacecraft, which made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986. "Voyager 2" discovered 10 moons, studied the planet's cold atmosphere, and examined its ring system, discovering two new rings. It also imaged Uranus' five large moons, revealing that their surfaces are covered with impact craters and canyons. A number of dedicated exploratory missions to Uranus have been proposed, but none have been approved. "Voyager 2" made its closest approach to Uranus on January 24, 1986, coming within of the planet's