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This contest is brought to you by NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program, the team that provides spacecraft with the power to visit some of the harshest, darkest, coldest locations in the solar system.


Promotion for Scientist for a Day essay contest

For this edition of the essay contest, we invite all students to explore three moons that NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft briefly visited during its historic journey through the solar system.

Uranus moons: Ariel, Oberon and Titania

Your assignment is to study three of Uranus' moons: Ariel, Oberon, and Titania. Then, choose the one you think would be the best place to return with another spacecraft someday.

In January 1986, the mighty spacecraft reached the Uranus system. Voyager 2 took as many images as possible of anything within sight. Those were very brief visits, though, and we only know what one side of these faraway moons looks like.

Flyer download

Which of these three moons inspires you to explore further?

What excites you about what we’ve learned so far?

What do you hope we’ll find if we return to these places?

Support your choice in an essay of no more than 300 words.

The essays of winning students will be published on NASA's Radioisotope Power Systems website.

Good Luck!

The Scientist for a Day team

Voyager 2 Flies by Uranus: See Ariel, Oberon, and Titania in context in the Uranus system, the way the Voyager 2 saw them in 1986 - courtesy of NASA's Eyes on the Solar System software. Credit: NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development.

  • Fly with Voyager 2 on NASA's Eyes ›
  • NASA's Eyes Tutorial ›


What is an RPS?

Radioisotope Power Systems provide the power to explore, discover, and understand our solar system. You can learn more about RPS on this website. This video explains some of the concepts.


2020-2021 Topics

Ariel

Ariel

Ariel is believed to be the least cratered of all the moons orbiting Uranus. Carbon dioxide has been detected there.
more

Oberon

Oberon

Oberon, Uranus' second largest moon, has a mountain that rises almost 4 miles (more than 6 kilometers) off the surface.
more

Titania

Titania

Titania, Uranus' largest moon, has a system of fault valleys that stretches nearly 1,000 miles (about 1,600 kilometers).
more

Ariel

Ariel is believed to be the least cratered of all the moons orbiting Uranus. Carbon dioxide has been detected there.
more

Oberon

Oberon, Uranus' second largest moon, has a mountain that rises almost 4 miles (more than 6 kilometers) off the surface.
more

Titania

Titania, Uranus' largest moon, has a system of fault valleys that stretches nearly 1,000 miles (about 1,600 kilometers).
more
More

Congratulations 2019-2020 Winners!

Ishman Rajput
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Grade 7-8
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Emma Li
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Canada Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Miranda
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Jade Thompson
Grade 7-8
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Matthew Chen
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Canada Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Charon
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Joy Kim
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Canada Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Miranda
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Sara John-Chuan
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Canada Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Triton
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Irene Wang
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Canada Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Triton
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Simeon Petkov
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Bulgaria Winner, Grade: 5-6 - Topic: Miranda
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Aleksandr Zamarashkin
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Canada Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Charon
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Neyko Neikov
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Bulgaria Winner, Grade: 9-12 - Topic: Charon
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Teodora Daskalova
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Bulgaria Winner, Grade: 7-8 - Target: Miranda
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Shaina Pranjivan
Grade 9-12
2019-20 South Africa Winner, Topic: Triton
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Erin Fourie
Grade 7-8
2019-20 South Africa Winner - Topic: Charon
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Shristhi Bickram
Grade 9-12
2019-20 South Africa Winner - Topic: Miranda
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Sunghyun Lee
Grade 9-12
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Chaei Baek
Grade 9-12
2019-20 South Korea Winner, Grade 12 - Topic: Triton
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Jungwook Lee
Grade 9-12
2019-20 South Korea Winner, Grade 9 - Topic: Triton
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Grade 5-6
2019-20 Bangladesh Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Charon
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Emir Han Bulut
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Turkey Winner, Grade 9 - Topic: Triton
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Julia Hutto
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Charon
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Tankut Timin
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Turkey Winner, Grade 11 - Topic: Charon
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Melodi Sıla Bozkaya
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Turkey Winner, Grade 11 - Topic: Triton
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Gigi Stewart and Bryan Wong
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Miranda
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Serda Aydemir
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Turkey Winner, Grade 11 - Topic: Triton
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Ojas Kumar
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Triton
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Aylin Akınal and Roy Erzurumluoğlu
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Turkey Winners, Grade 12 - Topic: Charon
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Muhammad Muzzamil
Grade 5-6
2019-20 United Arab Emirates Winner - Topic: Triton
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Athena Huynh and Christopher Hogan
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Triton
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Patricia Lopez-Alvarez
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Charon
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Shrida Mittal, Ram Patel, and Tuba Ahmed
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Miranda
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Aubrey Ellis and David Rowan
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Miranda
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Annabel Peltzer
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Triton
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Ahana Tajnim Khan
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Bangladesh Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Charon
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Anjali Shaju
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Charon
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Rifa Mahmood
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Bangladesh Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Miranda
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Nawba Tahiya Hossain
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Bangladesh Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Triton
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Raisha Islam
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Bangladesh Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Triton
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Azneef Ahammed Chowdhury
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Bangladesh Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Charon
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Victor Petrescu
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Romania Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Triton
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Yusha Nurullah Ayan
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Bangladesh Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Triton
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Syed Nazif Ishrak
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Bangladesh Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Miranda
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Anik Dus Gouptho
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Bangladesh Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Charon
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Vlad Manolescu
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Romania Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Triton
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Ana-Alexia Alecu, Diana-Camelia Buruian and Daria-Stefania G
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Romania Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Miranda
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Ana Iarina Popa and Ana Maria Ceausoglu
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Romania Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Charon
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Amira Livia Sauciuc, Radu Lucian Farcas, Iustin Gheorghita a
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2019-20 Romania Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Charon
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Luca Mintici and Paul Oprea
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Romania Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Miranda
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Tudor Ene and Vlad Crintea
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Romania Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Charon
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Diana Jula
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Romania Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Miranda
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Brijesh Raj Phullel
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Nepal Winner, Topic: Miranda
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Aaviskar Paudyal
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Nepal Winner, Topic: Triton
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Pran Traisorat
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Thailand Winner, Topic: Triton
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Ana-Maria Rosescu
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Austria Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Miranda
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Ecaterina-Maria Buro
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Austria Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Miranda
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Meer Jain & Kartik Burakia
Grade 5-6
2019-20 India Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Triton
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Oshadha Perera
Grade 9-12
2019-20 New Zealand Winner, Grade: 9-12 - Topic: Triton
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Sophie Ineson
Grade 7-8
2019-20 New Zealand Winner, Grade: 7-8 Topic: Triton
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Prue (Varin) Wongpunler
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Thailand Winner, Topic: Miranda
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Diya. V.S
Grade 5-6
2019-20 India Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Charon
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Divyansh Garg
Grade 7-8
2019-20 India Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Charon
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R. Akshitha
Grade 5-6
2019-20 India Winner, Grade 5-6 - Topic: Miranda
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Daksh Malhotra
Grade 7-8
2019-20 India Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Triton
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Sampurnam Sarkar
Grade 7-8
2019-20 India Winner, Grade 7-8 - Topic: Miranda
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Anvi Chauhan
Grade 9-12
2019-20 India Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Miranda
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Aditya Bajoria
Grade 9-12
2019-20 India Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Charon
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Shivank Menon
Grade 9-12
2019-20 India Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Triton
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Sabrina Silva Cordeiro
Grade 5-6
2019-20 Brazil Winner, Grade 5-6 - Target: Triton
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Mariana Sanglard Furtado e Carvalho
Grade 7-8
2019-20 Brazil Winner, Grade 7-8 - Target: Charon
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Lucas Henrique Gonçalves Ribeiro
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Brazil Winner, Grade 9 - Target: Triton
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João Guilherme de Assis Rossi
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Brazil Winner, Grade 9-12 - Target: Miranda
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João Paulo Santos Malaquias
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Brazil Winner, Grade 9-12 - Target: Charon
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Myllena Roberto Farias
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Brazil Winner, Grade 10 - Target: Triton
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Julian Nakalema
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Uganda Winner, Grade 9-12 - Target: Miranda
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Oscar Ahebwa
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Uganda, 2nd Place, Grade 9-12 - Target: Miranda
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Ishman Rajput
Grade 9-12
2019-20 Canada Winner, Grade 9-12 - Topic: Triton
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