| Ulysses spacecraft and the Sun
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| LAUNCH DATE: |
06-Oct-1990 11:47 UT
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| MISSION END: | 30-Jun-2009 |
| LAUNCH VEHICLE: | Space Shuttle Discovery STS-41 |
| LAUNCH MASS: | 367 kg |
| MISSION PHASE: |
Archive |
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Ulysses is in a 6.2 year heliocentric orbit inclined at 80° to the solar equator. |
Ulysses has conducted the first-ever survey of the Sun's environment in space from the equator to the poles, and over a wide range of solar activity conditions. Key results to date include the first detailed measurements of the solar wind from the Sun's polar regions at solar minimum and solar maximum, the discovery that the magnetic flux leaving the Sun is the same at all latitudes, the discovery of energetic particle "reservoirs" surrounding the Sun, the discovery of interstellar dust in the solar system, and the first direct measurements of interstellar helium atoms in the solar system.
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The joint ESA-NASA Ulysses deep-space mission was designed to study the heliosphere - the region of space influenced by the Sun and its magnetic field. The primary scientific goal was to make the first-ever measurements of the unexplored region of space above the Sun's poles. Other areas of investigation include determination of the global properties and behaviour of the solar wind, the study of energetic particles of solar and interplanetary origin, measurement of the magnetic field of the Sun and the heliosphere, study of galactic cosmic rays, investigation of how the heliosphere interacts with interstellar space, and participation in a programme to identify the origin of gamma-ray bursts. On 10 June 2009, Ulysses became the longest running ESA-operated spacecraft overtaking IUE's record of 6822 days (18 years 246 days). |
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