The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicScientific discoveries concerning the Sun's magnetic field are outlined.Ulysses has reached its observing position after a long journey in the solar system and a swing-by of planet Jupiter.At a press conference at ESTEC, in the Netherlands, the first scientific results were announced.Two major discoveries were made by Ulysses. The first one was that scientists believed so far that the Sun had a magnetic field pattern similar to the Earth's one and were therefore expecting Ulysses to identify the Sun's South magnetic pole. However, Ulysses did not find it.Instead, it found an uniform magnetic field.The second discovery was that scientists were also expecting more cosmic particles to enter into the heliosphere but Ulysses found out that few cosmic particles are actually reaching the sun.