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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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