ESA Science & Technology - Orbit of Ulysses

Artist's impression of the first ~2.5 years of Ulysses's journey (in red). The orbits of the Earth (blue) and Jupiter (yellow) are indicated. After sixteen months of interplanetary cruise, the Ulysses spacecraft arrived at Jupiter where, on 8 February 1992, it performed a swing-by of the large planet. This gravity assist placed Ulysses in its out-of-ecliptic orbit: a heliocentric orbit inclined at 80.2° to the solar equator, with an orbital period of 6.2 years, aphelion at ~5.4 AU from the Sun and a perihelion distance of ~1.34 AU.