Ulysses
Mapping the Sun From Pole to Pole
Ulysses used Jupiter's gravity to leave the ecliptic plane and became the first spacecraft to explore the heliosphere over the Sun's poles.
Object type
Heliospheric science spacecraft
Launch
October 6, 1990
Known for
First exploration over the Sun's poles
TransitSatellite connection
Ulysses connects Jupiter gravity assists, high-inclination solar orbits, solar-wind mapping, and the polar science later advanced by Solar Orbiter.
Trajectory
Using Jupiter to turn out of the planetary plane
A Jupiter gravity assist redirected Ulysses into a steeply inclined orbit around the Sun, giving the spacecraft access to solar latitudes unreachable by ordinary near-ecliptic missions.
Objective
Map the heliosphere in three dimensions
Ulysses measured solar wind, magnetic fields, energetic particles, dust, and other components of the heliosphere from equatorial to polar regions.
Legacy
The first polar perspective on the Sun
Its long mission established how solar-wind conditions vary with latitude and supplied a reference for later heliophysics missions, including Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe.
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