Miranda was discovered by Kuiper in 1948.

Before Voyager passed Uranus (near Miranda) on it's way to Neptune, little was known about this moon. It isn't very large, so it would never have been the first target of study for any spaceship that would visit Uranus. Miranda turned out to be the most interesting satellite of Uranus.

Miranda is composed of half water ice, half rocky material. 
Miranda's surface is covered with craters, which gives the moon a very mixed up appearance.

It was initially thought that Miranda had been completely shattered and reassembled several times in its history, each time burying some parts of the original surface being and exposing some of the interior. Now, however, a more mundane explanation involving the upwelling of partially melted ices seems to be in favor.