Highly Deserved Kudos + Award To ESA/NASA Ulysses Team

The Ulysses spacecraft was launched in 1990 on a planned five-year mission; keeping the hugely successful spacecraft operating for more than 17 years has presented operations engineers on the ground with a series of unique challenges. Now, in recognition of their efforts, the joint ESA/NASA Ulysses operations team has won an international award for their outstanding contributions to the success and scientific productivity of the observatory mission, now orbiting the poles of the Sun. The ESA/NASA Ulysses team was tapped to receive the 2008 International SpaceOps Award for Outstanding Achievement by the International Committee on Technical Interchange for Space Mission Operations and Ground Data Systems, also known as the SpaceOps Committee. The award will be presented during the SpaceOps 2008 Conference, which occurs from May 12th to 16th in Heidelberg, Germany. According to the SpaceOps Secretariat, the Achievement award is presented for outstanding efforts in overcoming space operations and support challenges, and recognises those teams or individuals whose exceptional contributions were critical to the success of a space mission. Ulysses is an excellent example of an international scientific mission that could not have been operated by any one agency alone.