Ulysses spacecraft

Ulysses is an unmanned probe designed to study the Sun at all latitudes. The spacecraft, named for the Latin translation of "Odysseus", was launched in October 1990 from the Space Shuttle Discovery (mission STS-41) as a joint venture of NASA and the European Space Agency. The spacecraft is equipped with instruments to characterise fields, particles, and dust, and is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). It was originally code-named the International Solar Polar Mission. Download high resolution version (1004x811, 130 KB)Ulysses spacecraft This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (1004x811, 130 KB)Ulysses spacecraft This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Unmanned space missions are those using remote-controlled spacecraft. ... The Sun is the star at the center of our Solar system. ... Ariane 5 lifts off with the Rosetta space probe on March 2, 2004. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language — the source text — and the production, in another language, of a new, equivalent text — the target text, or translation. ... Odysseus and the Sirens. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the year. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... Shuttle Orbiter Discovery (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is a NASA Space Shuttle. ... Crew Richard N. Richards (2), Commander Robert D. Cabana (1), Pilot William M. Shepherd (2), Mission Specialist 1 Bruce E. Melnick (1), Mission Specialist 2 Thomas D. Akers (1), Mission Specialist 3 Mission Parameters Mass: Orbiter Liftoff: 117,749 kg Orbiter Landing: 89,298 kg Payload: 21,473 kg Perigee... NASA logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975,is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to exploration of space with currently 17 member states. ... A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) is a simple electrical generator which obtains its power from radioactive decay. ...

On leaving Earth, the spacecraft became the fastest ever artificially-accelerated object, by means of two upper stages. It arrived at Jupiter in February 1992 for a swing-by maneuver which brought it out of the ecliptic plane, in order to investigate the polar regions of the Sun. In 1994-5 and again in 2000-1 it explored both the northern and southern solar polar regions, which gave many unexpected results. In particular the southern magnetic pole was found to be much more dynamic and without any fixed clear location. It is, of course, wrong to say that the Sun has no magnetic south pole. The Sun is not a magnetic monopole, the pole is merely more diffusely located than the north pole. The second stage of a Minuteman III rocket Description A multistage (or multi-stage) rocket is, like any rocket, propelled by the recoil pressure of the burning gases it emits as it burns fuel. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 70 kPa Hydrogen ~86% Helium ~14% Methane 0. ... In orbital mechanics and aerospace engineering, a gravitational slingshot is the use of the motion of a planet to alter the path and speed of an interplanetary spacecraft. ... The plane of the ecliptic is well seen in this picture from the 1994 lunar prospecting Clementine spacecraft. ... Magnetic lines of force of a bar magnet shown by iron filings on paper A magnet is an object that has a magnetic field. ... The Sun is the star at the center of our Solar system. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Compass rose with north highlighted and at top North is one of the four cardinal directions, specifically the direction that, in Western culture, is treated as the primary direction: north is used (explicitly or implicitly) to define all other directions; the (visual) top edges of maps usually correspond to the... A compass rose with South highlighted South is most commonly a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. ... In physics, magnetism is one of the phenomena by which materials exert an attractive or repulsive force on other materials. ... In physics, a magnetic monopole is a hypothetical particle that may be loosely described as a magnet with only one pole (see electromagnetic theory for more on magnetic poles). ...

On May 1, 1996, the spacecraft unexpectedly crossed the ion tail of Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2), revealing the tail to be at least 3.8 AU in length. (Jones, et al., 2000) May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Comet Hyakutake, the Great Comet of 1996 Comet Hyakutake (pronounced // or //; formally designated C/1996 B2) is a comet that was discovered in January 1996 which passed very close to Earth in March of that year and was dubbed The Great Comet of 1996. ...

Ulysses approached aphelion in 2003/2004 and made further distant observations of Jupiter. [1] This article is about several astronomical terms (apogee & perigee, aphelion & perihelion, generic equivalents based on apsis, and related but rarer terms. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ulysses' mission has been extended until at least March 2008, enabling it to continue operating while flying over the Sun's poles for the third time in 2007 and 2008. [2] 2008 (MMVIII) will a Leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) will be a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will a Leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Jones GH, Balogh A, Horbury TS (2000). Identification of comet Hyakutake's extremely long ion tail from magnetic field signatures. Nature 404 (6778): 574-6. PMID 10766233

Nature is one of the oldest and most reputable scientific journals, first published on 4 November 1869. ...

External links

• NASA/JPL Ulysses website
• ESA Ulysses website
• ESA/NASA/JPL: Ulysses subsystems and instrumentation in high detail