Ulysses solar probe to go dark

Nineteen years and close to 5.8 billion miles later, the Ulysses solar probe’s mission is coming to an end according to the Associated Press.

NASA and the European space agency plan will turn off the probe’s transmitter Tuesday.  The probe was originally designed to run for five years, but has surprised and delighted scienetists by continuing to function  and send data back to earth for the past 19.  The probe was launched in 1990 by the space shuttle Discovery.

Sixteen months ago, the two space agencies announced that Ulysses was freezing up and about to die in a matter of weeks. Somehow it kept operating, sending important science information about an extraordinarily quiet year for the sunspots and solar wind.