The Orbit of Ulysses
Ulysses was launched in October 1990. Ulysses was launched from the STS-41 mission of the space shuttle Discovery. Two Inertial Upper Stages (IUS) and a mission-specific Payload Assist Module (PAM) combined together to send Ulysses toward its out-of-ecliptic trajectory. To reach this out-of-ecliptic trajectory, Ulysses was sent out to the planet Jupiter, whose immense gravity was used to deflect the spacecraft in a slingshot fashion into a highly inclined orbit (80 degrees inclined to the ecliptic). The spacecraft reached the Sun's south pole in June 1994. Ulysses continued its orbit around the Sun reaching the north pole in June 1995. Ulysses has now embarked on its second orbit of the Sun. The spacecraft will make polar passes in the years 2000 and 2001. Ulysses' out-of-ecliptic orbit has a period of 6.2 years, approximately half of a solar cycle.
The Ulysses mission is presently approved to continue operating and collecting data through December 2001. With the approval of NASA and ESA, operations may be extended for several more years.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Learn about Earth and space science, and have fun while doing it! The
games section of our
online store includes a
climate change card game and the
Traveling Nitrogen game!
You might also be interested in:
There is a solar eclipse coming to a theater near you! Well, Shakespeare said all the world's a stage, didn't he? There really will be a total solar eclipse on February 26th. The complete eclipse will
...more
The Ulysses space probe has begun to investigate the Sun during solar maximum. In September of 2000, Ulysses began to creep around the underside of the Sun. Ulysses has passed this way before, but during
...more
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was one of the most important exploration tools of the past two decades, and will continue to serve as a great resource well into the new millennium. The HST is credited
...more
Driven by a recent surge in space research, the Apollo program hoped to add to the accomplishments of the Lunar Orbiter and Surveyor missions of the late 1960's. Apollo 11 was the first mission to succeed
...more
Apollo 12 survived a lightning strike during its launch on Nov. 14, 1969, and arrived at the Moon three days later. Astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean descended to the surface, while Richard Gordon
...more
Apollo 15 marked the start of a new series of missions from the Apollo space program, each capable of exploring more lunar terrain than ever before. Launched on July 26, 1971, Apollo 15 reached the Moon
...more
NASA chose Deep Impact to be part of a special series called the Discovery Program on July 7, 1999. In May 2001, Deep Impact was given the "go" from NASA to start with mission development. Deep Impact
...more
