Changes

== Discovery ==

== Discovery ==

[[Gerard P. Kuiper]] discovered miranda in 1948. He rejected at once naming the satellite after a son of Uranus, because earlier astronomers had already used Uranus' sons as names for [[Saturn]]'s moons. He therefore followed the lead of Lassel and [[William Herschel|Herschel]]<ref name=usgs/> and named Miranda after a character in one of the plays of [[William Shakespeare]].<ref name=Kuiper/>

[[Gerard P. Kuiper]] discovered Miranda in 1948. He rejected at once naming the satellite after a son of Uranus, because earlier astronomers had already used Uranus' sons as names for [[Saturn]]'s moons. He therefore followed the lead of Lassel and [[William Herschel|Herschel]]<ref name=usgs/> and named Miranda after a character in one of the plays of [[William Shakespeare]].<ref name=Kuiper/>

When [[Voyager 2]] flew by Uranus in 1986, Miranda was the closest moon to Voyager's flight path, and was therefore the one that Voyager 2 studied most closely. The Voyager team originally had not planned a mission to so small a moon, but could do nothing else; Voyager needed to make a precise hyperbolic pass at Uranus in order to steer toward [[Neptune]], and Miranda happened to lie along the way. Yet in the end the Voyager scientists were grateful for the opportunity to study this remarkable object.<ref name=nasa1>Harvey, Samantha. "[http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Ura_Miranda Uranus: Moons: Miranda]." ''Our Solar System'', [[NASA]], February 23, 2007. Accessed April 28, 2008.</ref><ref name=Arnett>Arnett, Bill. "[http://www.nineplanets.org/miranda.html Miranda]." ''The <s>Nine</s> 8 Planets'', December 15, 2004. Accessed April 28, 2008.</ref>

When [[Voyager 2]] flew by Uranus in 1986, Miranda was the closest moon to Voyager's flight path, and was therefore the one that Voyager 2 studied most closely. The Voyager team originally had not planned a mission to so small a moon, but could do nothing else; Voyager needed to make a precise hyperbolic pass at Uranus in order to steer toward [[Neptune]], and Miranda happened to lie along the way. Yet in the end the Voyager scientists were grateful for the opportunity to study this remarkable object.<ref name=nasa1>Harvey, Samantha. "[http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Ura_Miranda Uranus: Moons: Miranda]." ''Our Solar System'', [[NASA]], February 23, 2007. Accessed April 28, 2008.</ref><ref name=Arnett>Arnett, Bill. "[http://www.nineplanets.org/miranda.html Miranda]." ''The <s>Nine</s> 8 Planets'', December 15, 2004. Accessed April 28, 2008.</ref>