The Ulysses mission, originally known as the International Solar Polar Mission (ISPM), is a joint project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) launched on October 6, 1990. The primary mission objectives are to study the solar poles, heliosphere, and cosmic rays coming into the solar system from other stars in the Milky Way. A secondary mission objective is to study the magnetosphere of Jupiter. These mission objectives will be met through the 11 science investigations listed in Table 1.
Major Mission Constraints
Since no current launch systems are capable of launching Ulysses directly into the planned orbit inclination (80 deg with respect to the ecliptic), Ulysses must first fly to Jupiter to perform a gravity assist maneuver [Gavaghan, 1990]. The proper launch geometry to Jupiter occurs every 13 months [Ulysses Off to the Sun, 1991].
Mission Sequences of Events and Trajectory Requirements
The sequences of events for the Ulysses mission are given in Table 2. A sketch of the Ulysses trajectory is shown in Figure 1 at the end of this paper.
Sunday, 01-Aug-2004 00:36:47 CDT
CSR/TSGC Team Web
