ULYSSES-7 YEARS ON - OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED

Although the Ulysses mission is currently only one third of its way th rough its second orbit of the Sun, it is worth remembering that this v ery successful mission was launched 7 years ago, Many current and futu re missions with ESA participation (e.g. Hubble Space Telescope, ISO, SOHO, Cassini/Huygens, Rosetta) have one or more of the following in c ommon with Ulysses: interplanetary-type trajectories; missions of long duration; multidisciplinary science; cooperation with other internati onal space agencies, it would therefore seem prudent to pass on some o f the lessons learned in these areas from the first 7 years of Ulysses operations.