The Ulysses Solar Minimum Mission CD-ROM Archive

C. Tranquille, R.G. Marsden & T.R. Sanderson

On 30 September 1995, Ulysses completed the primary phase of its mission, becoming the first spacecraft to chart the high-latitude regions of the heliosphere. The spacecraft’s scientific payload returned unique and continuous data throughout this so-called Solar Minimum Mission, covering the in-ecliptic transfer to Jupiter and its flyby, the descent to the south pole of the Sun, the rapid transit from the southern to the northern hemisphere, and the passage over the north pole. Currently, Ulysses is making its second solar orbit during a time of increased solar activity, in contrast to the relatively quiet solar minimum conditions experienced during the first orbit.

The data collected by the many experiments flown on Ulysses during the Solar Minimum Mission are now available as ESA Special Publication SP-1230, comprising a collection of eight CD-ROMs. In addition to the scientific measurements made by the Ulysses experiments, this CD-ROM archive also contains background articles about the Ulysses mission, extensive instrument documentation and plots of selected data parameters.

The Ulysses Solar Minimum Mission CD-ROM archive is the first release of Ulysses data on a permanent storage medium by ESA, and complements the ESA Ulysses data archive which can be accessed through the Internet. Updates to this CD-ROM archive and further releases of Ulysses data are planned for the future.