* Astronomy

ESAs Science Programme Committee has unanimously approved to continue the operations of the highly successful Ulysses spacecraft until March 2009. This latest extension, for a period of 12 months, is the fourth in the history of the joint NASA/ESA mission.
 In addition to pursuing its long-term goal of exploring the heliosphere in four dimensions 3 spatial dimensions and time - Ulysses is a key member of the Heliospheric Network, the international fleet of spacecraft presently operating at many different locations in the heliosphere and beyond.
Ulysses joint measurements with the twin STEREO satellites that were launched in October 2006 are high on the list of priorities for the coming months.

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Scientists from the Ulysses mission have proven that sounds generated deep inside the Sun cause the Earth to shake and vibrate in sympathy. They have found that Earths magnetic field, atmosphere and terrestrial systems, all take part in this cosmic sing-along.
 David Thomson and Louis Lanzerotti, team members of the HISCALE experiment, on board Ulysses, together with colleagues Frank Vernon, Marc Lessard and Lindsay Smith, present evidence that proves that Earth moves to the rhythm of the Sun. They show that distinct, isolated tones, predicted to be generated by pressure and gravity waves in the Sun, are present in a wide variety of terrestrial systems.
Using highly sophisticated statistical techniques, Thomson and colleagues have discovered these same, distinct tones emitted by the Sun, in seismic data here on Earth. They have also found that Earths magnetic field and atmosphere, and even voltages induced on ocean cables, are all taking part in this cosmic sing-along.
Although these tones are all around us, it would not be possible for us to hear them, even if we listened very closely. Their pitch is too low for the human ear, typically 100-5000 microHertz (1 microHertz corresponds to 1 vibration every 278 hours). This is more than 12 octaves below the lowest note audible to humans. For comparison, the note to which orchestras tune their instruments (A above Middle C on a piano) corresponds to 440 Hertz.

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The 16-year-old Ulysses spacecraft reaches what could be considered a low point in its mission observing the sun today – and solar scientists could not be happier. The European-manufactured, joint NASA- and ESA-managed spacecraft, has reached maximum latitude in its exploration of the heliosphere, the bubble in space blown out by the solar wind.

"At max latitude we are actually passing below the sun looking almost directly up at its south pole from 329 million kilometres  away. The trajectory provides a perspective of the sun no other spacecraft can equal" - Nigel Angold, Ulysses mission operations manager from the European Space Agency.

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Less than one hundred years ago, the south pole of Earth was a land of utter mystery. Explorers laboured mightily to get there, fighting scurvy, wind, disorientation and a fantastic almost-martian cold. Until Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott reached the Pole in 1911 and 1912, it was terra incognita.
The situation is much the same today—on the sun.

"The sun's south pole is uncharted territory...We can barely see it from Earth, and most of our sun-studying spacecraft are stationed over the sun's equator with a poor view of higher latitudes" - solar physicist Arik Posner of NASA headquarters.

There is, however, one spacecraft that can travel over the sun's poles: Ulysses, a joint mission of NASA and the European Space Agency. And today Ulysses is making a rare South Pole flyby.

"On February 7th, the spacecraft reaches a maximum heliographic latitude of 80°S—almost directly above the South Pole" - Arik Posner, who is the Ulysses Program Scientist for NASA.

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