ULYSSES In Space

 

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ULYSSES

Overview: Fundamental Technologies, LLC, of Lawrence, Kansas, is the official production center for Ulysses HISCALE data. The following gives a brief explanation of the Ulysses Mission, and the types of instruments included in its scientific payload. Please view the Ulysses HISCALE Data Analysis Handbook for more information.

  

Mission Background: The primary purpose of the Ulysses mission, a joint venture between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was to explore the inner heliosphere of the sun away from the ecliptic plane. This mission was unique in that the spacecraft traveled over the solar poles, exploring regions of the sun in a manner not previously attempted.

 

Scientific Payload: The Ulysses scientific payload consisted of nine experiments:

 

CODE NAME ACRONYM TYPE OF INVESTIGATION
BAM SWPE Solar wind plasma
GLG SWICS Solar-wind ion composition spectrometer
HED FGM/VHM Magnetic field flux-gate/vector helium magnetometers
KEP EPAC/GAS Energetic particle composition and neutral gas
SIM COSPIN Cosmic ray and solar charged particles
HUS GRB Solar x-rays/cosmic gamma ray bursts
GRU DUST Cosmic dust
STO URAP Unified radio and plasma waves
LAN HISCALE Low energy ions and electrons

 

The HISCALE instrument consists of five telescope apertures which use the spin of the spacecraft to sweep the full sky:

 

Two Low Energy Magnetic Spectrometers (LEMS) Measure flux and direction of ions greater than 50 keV
Two Low Energy Foil Spectrometers (LEFS) Measure flux and direction of electrons above 30 keV
One Composition Aperture (CA) Measures elemental composition of the ions

 


Additional information at Fundamental Technologies, LLC:

Updated 7/18/2022, Dr. Jerry W. Manweiler

QUICK FACTS

Manufacturer: ESA provided the Ulysses spacecraft, NASA provided the power supply, and various others provided its instruments.

Mission End Date: June 30, 2009

Destination: The inner heliosphere of the sun away from the ecliptic plane

Orbit:  Elliptical orbit transversing the polar regions of the sun outside of the ecliptic plane