Artist's impression of Ulysses swinging by Jupiter (D. Hardy).

Ulysses arrived at Jupiter 16 months after departing from Earth, having travelled nearly 1 billion kilometers. Closest approach to the planet occurred at 12:02 UT on 8 February, 1992. The primary aim of the flyby was to place the spacecraft in its final heliocentric out-of-ecliptic orbit with a minimum of risk to the onboard systems and scientific payload. Scientific investigations at Jupiter are a secondary objective of the mission. Nevertheless, the opportunity to study Jupiter's magnetosphere was exploited to the greatest extent possible. The results exceeded all expectations of the scientists involved.

Plasma and Magnetic Field