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What's Up With Ulysses?, alive? dead? cancelled soon?
deglr6328
post Sep 27 2005, 04:05 AM
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What is up with the tiny Ulysses spacecraft that was launched in 1990 to study the solar whatever at high lattitudes? Last I heard it was in danger of dying because the RTG power was running low and at aphelion there was a risk of the hydrazine freezing/exploding in its propulsion system. Well that was like a year ago and I haven't heard anything since. It looks like it should've passed aphelion by now and should be out of danger.....

Its been going up there for over a full solar cycle, is it one of the missions on the chopping block because of the new humans on moon/mars thing?
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Paolo
post Jun 12 2008, 07:09 PM
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Today at ESA Headquarters, the Ulysses Legacy press conference
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMPEQUG3HF_index_0_ov.html
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robspace54
post Jun 30 2008, 08:40 PM
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Today is June 30th, so folks, say goodbye to old Ulysses, he's heading home at last... End-of-Mission July 1st, 2008.

Rob
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tedstryk
post Jul 1 2008, 02:23 PM
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QUOTE (robspace54 @ Jun 30 2008, 09:40 PM) *
Today is June 30th, so folks, say goodbye to old Ulysses, he's heading home at last... End-of-Mission July 1st, 2008.

Rob


A sad nominal date, although tracking is still scheduled through the middle of the month (basically, this is as long as they figured fuel-bleeding might keep the hydrazine lines from freezing). A major science blow occurred at the end of May, when it reached a point at which it could only send data to the 70 meter antennae at 512bps. This is significant because the tape recorder plays at 1024bps at its slowest, meaning that Ulysses can only send data in real time now. Back during the 2003-2004 Jupiter Distant Encounter, the tape recorder was turned off for about three months so that it could operate all instruments at the same time (as opposed to power sharing, which it needed to do when far from the sun, since during the recent perihelion it could shut its heaters off and get the same effect). However, this required 24/7 DSN coverage, which, given the Jovian Science (a highlight was the additional data about dust streams from Io) that was being done, was worth it. However, at 512 bps (and soon to drop below that), it would be hard to justify constant coverage.


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Posts in this topic
- deglr6328   What's Up With Ulysses?   Sep 27 2005, 04:05 AM
- - Myran   Yes I havnt heard much news about Ulysses since it...   Sep 27 2005, 10:35 AM
- - djellison   http://ulysses-ops.jpl.esa.int/ulsfct/opssumm.html...   Sep 27 2005, 10:48 AM
- - deglr6328   Hmmm looks like alot of the instruments are switch...   Sep 27 2005, 06:22 PM
|- - ynyralmaen   QUOTE (deglr6328 @ Sep 27 2005, 08:22 PM)Hmmm...   Sep 28 2005, 08:23 AM
|- - ljk4-1   Fifteen years after its launch, the grand ESA/NASA...   Oct 6 2005, 02:42 PM
- - SigurRosFan   Ulysses 15th Anniversary Video: http://www.jpl.na...   Oct 9 2005, 01:16 PM
- - deglr6328   Neat video. Does anyone know how to unlock the eas...   Oct 9 2005, 06:01 PM
|- - tfisher   QUOTE (deglr6328 @ Oct 9 2005, 02:01 PM)Does ...   Oct 9 2005, 06:26 PM
- - deglr6328   oh. well that's not very exciting is it.   Oct 9 2005, 07:12 PM
- - Rakhir   Ulysses embarks on third set of polar passes http...   Nov 17 2006, 04:47 PM
|- - The Messenger   QUOTE (Rakhir @ Nov 17 2006, 09:47 AM) Ul...   Nov 27 2006, 09:48 PM
|- - ustrax   For those interested I've posted at the spaceu...   Jan 29 2007, 03:29 PM
- - remcook   ustrax: interesting. But what's up with the mi...   Jan 29 2007, 03:52 PM
|- - ustrax   QUOTE (remcook @ Jan 29 2007, 03:52 PM) u...   Jan 29 2007, 03:59 PM
- - remcook   ah I see now.   Jan 29 2007, 04:38 PM
|- - ustrax   There goes Ulysses...again... I really enjoy Dr....   Feb 7 2007, 01:47 PM
|- - peter59   QUOTE (ustrax @ Feb 7 2007, 02:47 PM) ...   Feb 23 2008, 09:14 AM
|- - tedstryk   QUOTE (peter59 @ Feb 23 2008, 09:14 AM) I...   Feb 25 2008, 03:08 PM
- - AlexBlackwell   Ulysses scores a hat-trick ESA 7 February 2007   Feb 7 2007, 05:34 PM
- - nprev   I agree with ustrax; the longevity of this spacecr...   Feb 11 2007, 08:17 PM
|- - Paolo   QUOTE (nprev @ Feb 11 2007, 09:17 PM) Als...   Feb 11 2007, 08:44 PM
||- - IM4   QUOTE (Paolo @ Feb 11 2007, 08:44 PM) Bac...   Feb 23 2008, 01:23 PM
||- - ugordan   QUOTE (IM4 @ Feb 23 2008, 02:23 PM) Novem...   Feb 26 2008, 09:40 AM
||- - tedstryk   For most of that time it should be away from major...   Feb 26 2008, 03:46 PM
|- - Jeff7   QUOTE (nprev @ Feb 11 2007, 03:17 PM) I a...   Feb 13 2007, 03:36 AM
|- - centsworth_II   QUOTE (Jeff7 @ Feb 12 2007, 10:36 PM) A c...   Feb 13 2007, 03:56 AM
|- - Jeff7   QUOTE (centsworth_II @ Feb 12 2007, 10:56...   Feb 21 2007, 04:06 AM
- - Littlebit   Ulysses Update: http://www.spaceref.com/news/view...   Feb 20 2007, 02:54 PM
- - dvandorn   This is the old argument they went through when th...   Feb 21 2007, 03:43 PM
|- - David   QUOTE (dvandorn @ Feb 21 2007, 03:43 PM) ...   Feb 22 2007, 02:19 AM
||- - ustrax   We'll miss you...   Feb 22 2008, 02:56 PM
|- - ilbasso   QUOTE (dvandorn @ Feb 21 2007, 10:43 AM) ...   Feb 22 2008, 04:23 PM
- - djellison   Well - there's a lot of science to be had from...   Feb 22 2008, 03:37 PM
- - stevesliva   You know, for all the flack that ESA's press f...   Feb 22 2008, 06:07 PM
- - djellison   I'm hoping that this is how MER goes out - wit...   Feb 22 2008, 06:41 PM
- - deglr6328   Looks like my old thread was just a few years too ...   Feb 23 2008, 08:40 PM
- - djellison   Basically, yes. That's my understanding of it...   Feb 23 2008, 09:00 PM
- - edstrick   Remember that Ulysses needs to periodically re-ori...   Feb 24 2008, 08:28 AM
|- - mcaplinger   QUOTE (edstrick @ Feb 24 2008, 12:28 AM) ...   Feb 24 2008, 04:21 PM
- - robspace54   Thermal Constraints of the Reaction Control Subsys...   Feb 25 2008, 09:42 PM
|- - tedstryk   I know that during the Jupiter Distant Encounter i...   Feb 26 2008, 05:35 AM
- - IM4   Yep, I made a stupid mistake. Or even two. As for...   Feb 26 2008, 04:26 PM
- - robspace54   This paper from 2004 tells us that the "freez...   Feb 27 2008, 06:48 PM
- - mcaplinger   From Emily's blog on planetary.org about Ulyss...   Mar 15 2008, 02:05 AM
- - Mongo   There are some fine lines in Tennyson's poem U...   Mar 15 2008, 02:15 AM
- - elakdawalla   Thanks for the tip, Mike. Haven't gotten to b...   Mar 15 2008, 03:44 AM
- - Paolo   From Dante's Commedia (Inferno XXVI): 'O ...   Mar 15 2008, 09:31 PM
|- - dilo   QUOTE (Paolo @ Mar 15 2008, 10:31 PM) fat...   Mar 16 2008, 08:25 AM
- - jamescanvin   Looks like news regarding the death of Ulysses may...   Apr 16 2008, 09:52 AM
- - GravityWaves   After more than 17 years relentlessly exploring th...   Jun 5 2008, 04:16 PM
- - Paolo   From the "programmes in progress" sectio...   Jun 8 2008, 09:34 AM
- - Paolo   Today at ESA Headquarters, the Ulysses Legacy pres...   Jun 12 2008, 07:09 PM
|- - robspace54   Today is June 30th, so folks, say goodbye to old U...   Jun 30 2008, 08:40 PM
|- - tedstryk   QUOTE (robspace54 @ Jun 30 2008, 09:40 PM...   Jul 1 2008, 02:23 PM
- - nprev   A sad day to be sure, but also a happy one. Could ...   Jul 1 2008, 03:34 PM
- - ynyralmaen   Yes, a hugely successful mission... many congrats ...   Jul 1 2008, 07:39 PM
- - Rakhir   Ulysses hanging on valiantly http://www.esa.int/es...   Jul 3 2008, 09:49 PM
|- - ustrax   Humm...changes in the solar system?...any idea of ...   Sep 22 2008, 10:02 AM
- - tanjent   That should indeed be interesting. I assume the ph...   Sep 22 2008, 12:59 PM
|- - ustrax   I'm starting to get the chills...Can it be rel...   Sep 22 2008, 04:06 PM
- - Del Palmer   Don't fret, a new sunspot just appeared today.   Sep 22 2008, 10:32 PM
- - Del Palmer   Ulysses finds that the solar wind pressure and mag...   Sep 23 2008, 05:47 PM
|- - SolarSystemRubble   QUOTE (Del Palmer @ Sep 23 2008, 12:47 PM...   Sep 23 2008, 06:21 PM
|- - Sunspot   QUOTE (SolarSystemRubble @ Sep 23 2008, 07...   Sep 24 2008, 07:11 AM
- - imipak   Climatology's been ruled off-topic for UMSF I...   Sep 24 2008, 09:27 AM
- - Paolo   There are status updates on Ulysses at http://ulys...   Jan 4 2009, 11:06 AM
- - Paolo   The latest mission status. Ulysses is still alive...   Mar 17 2009, 04:54 PM
- - elakdawalla   I was in JPL's Space Flight Operations Facilit...   Mar 17 2009, 06:44 PM
|- - tedstryk   I would love it if it picked up one last comet tai...   Mar 18 2009, 01:34 PM
|- - G0DXS   The day has finally come! The last day for mis...   Jun 24 2009, 04:15 AM
|- - robspace54   The little spacecraft that could... and DID from O...   Jun 27 2009, 06:53 PM
- - dmuller   Man I saw the launch live at Cape Canaveral. I was...   Jun 29 2009, 11:33 PM
- - dmuller   From the mission ops blog: QUOTE UTC Timestamp: 2...   Jun 29 2009, 11:36 PM
- - Astro0   While Goldstone is down, the torch has been passed...   Jun 30 2009, 06:58 AM
|- - ustrax   "The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed Fr...   Jun 30 2009, 07:45 AM
- - dmuller   Ulysses has just been switched off in good config ...   Jun 30 2009, 08:21 PM
- - cbcnasa   Thank you and farewell Ulysses   Jul 2 2009, 04:54 PM


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