Aster › Space program › Ariel
Ariel
Position on the route: 63/130 · level needed 182 · journey (Mk0 engine) 38.1 h
By the numbers
| Diameter | 1,158 km |
|---|---|
| Year | 2.52 days |
| Distance | 190,900 km |
| Discovered | 1851, Lassell |
The story
Ariel is the brightest of Uranus’s moons: its surface of clean ice and carbon is fairly young, so it was resurfaced recently. It is full of deep canyons, ice valleys and craters. Voyager 2 (1986) saw only the southern hemisphere; the northern half has never been mapped.
Carbon-dioxide ice was found on its surface. Because Uranus lies on its side, its poles have days and nights that last 42 years each.
Missions
- Voyager 2 (1986): the only close flyby
Colony note
Ice and carbon; remote and dark. An observation base.
What probes bring back
- The brightest of Uranus’s moons and one of its youngest surfaces; deep canyons and ice valleys.
- Only Voyager 2 (1986) has seen it up close; carbon-dioxide ice was found on its surface.