Ulysses: first probe over the Sun's poles
Ulysses: primera sonda sobre los polos del Sol
- Date
- 1994-1995 · confidence high
- Place
- European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Noordwijk, Netherlands
- Credited to
- ESA and NASA
- Field
- Movement
What was discovered
After gaining height with Jupiter, Ulysses left the plane of the planets and flew over the Sun's south and north poles in 1994-1995. It showed that the high-latitude solar wind is faster and that the Sun's magnetic field is simpler than expected.
It operated nearly 19 years, until 2009. The name alludes to the Greek hero Ulysses, who ventured beyond the known world.
What it led to
- a three-dimensional model of the heliosphere
- the basis for the Parker and Solar Orbiter solar probes
- measurements of cosmic rays in the heliosphere