Ulysses Sun Mapping Mission
January 17th 2008 09:09
Ulysses being prepaired fpr launch
Originally launched in 1990 from the Space Shuttle Discovery on October 6, 1990, after which it was propelled toward Jupiter by a combination of solid-fuel motors. Ulysses passed Jupiter on February 8, 1992 the giant planet's gravity bent the spacecraft's flight path downward and away from the ecliptic plane. This put it into a final orbit around the Sun that would take it past the Sun's north and south poles. Ulysses spacecraft continues to venture where no other spacecraft has gone before It has visited Jupiter and had a brief encounter with a comet then back, over the Sun's poles.
An artist's concept of the Ulysses spacecraft. Source: ESA
Ulysses has endured extreme conditions in its quest to study the Sun. Our Sun drive’s our weather patterns and gives us stability and energy. Ulysses once again crossed into the Sun's south polar cap, it has begun its journey over the north polar cap.
Previous spacecraft have remained near the Sun's equator where the Earth and other planets are located, however, Ulysses' orbit is much more highly inclined to all other previous spacecraft providing a unique perspective from which to study the Sun and its effect on surrounding space. Entry into the North Polar Cap is defined by the heliographic (solar) latitude of 70 degrees. Ulysses will now proceed to its maximum latitude of 80 degrees and then return to 70 degrees in 15 March 2008 and exit the polar cap.
Observations of the solar wind, magnetic fields, solar energetic particles and cosmic rays obtained during this traverse will be compared with those obtained in the South Polar Cap earlier this year in order to compare and contrast any differences, i.e., a North-South temporal differences associated with changes on the Sun made evident by the network of in-ecliptic (solar equatorial) heliospheric spacecraft.
The study of the Sun has important consequences for Earth and its inhabitants as we continue to move into a new era of space-based technology and are able to send people into space and its hazards. Solar activity and the sunspots are driven by the solar magnetic field that changes dramatically over a 22-year cycle.
It was interesting to note that during Ulysses second orbit at sunspot maximum, the Sun’s polar fields disappeared and then reappeared with the opposite sense, negative or inward in the north and positive or outward in the south. We may be heading for a magnetic change here on Earth where North will reverse polarity and become South and South will be North compasses will point the wrong way, and migrating birds, fish are going to be very confused. This will make navigation interesting no need to panic don’t change the sun- dial alignment this process may take another couple of thousand years a mere blink compared with Earth past history.
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