Oct 31 1977
From The Space Library
The Washington Star reported that U.S. and European scientists were planning a two-spacecraft mission to an unexplored area of space to get a first look at the sun and its solar system from a new perspective. No spacecraft had as yet ventured off the so-called plane of the ecliptic (the solar equatorial plane) by more than 15° latitude relative to the sun. Using two spacecraft, one below the plane of the ecliptic and the other in the usual latitude relative to the sun, scientists could learn more about solar physics and conditions responsible for variations in earth's climate.
The mission would use two unmanned spacecraft weighing 650 to 8001b each, launched by a Space Shuttle. The report said NASA would request funds for the "solar polar" (or out-of-ecliptic, OOE) project in its next budget, giving engineers time to meet a favorable 10-day launch period in Feb. 1983. ESA, whose members included most western European nations, was said to be ready to share in the mission; it would build one of the vehicles, the U.S. the other. JPL would manage NASA's part of the mission, estimated to cost about $141 million. (W Star, Oct 31/77, A-6)
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