Two Missions that Made a Difference

摘要

Two long-running space missions now reaching the end of their lives embarked years ago on very different missions, but today they share one significant attribute: each made important contributions in its respective field of space activity.rnFrom a mission-objective standpoint, the Ulysses solar observatory and the Midcourse Space Experiment, or MSX, had little in common. Ulysses was a scientific endeavor and a model of international cooperation; MSX was a military capability demonstration launched by the forerunner to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. But both share the distinction of being trailblazers - each in its own way - and of far exceeding expectations, both in terms of longevity and productivity.