 On February 8 , 1992 , the Ulysses solar probe flew past Jupiter 's north pole at a distance of 451 @,@ 000 km . This swing @-@ by maneuver was required for Ulysses to attain a very high @-@ inclination orbit around the Sun , increasing its inclination to the ecliptic to 80 @.@ 2 degrees . The giant planet 's gravity bent the spacecraft 's <unk> downward and away from the ecliptic plane , placing it into a final orbit around the Sun 's north and south poles . The size and shape of the probe 's orbit were adjusted to a much smaller degree , so that its <unk> remained at approximately 5 AU ( Jupiter 's distance from the Sun ) , while its perihelion lay somewhat beyond 1 AU ( Earth 's distance from the Sun ) . During its Jupiter encounter , the probe made measurements of the planet 's magnetosphere . Since the probe had no cameras , no images were taken . In February 2004 , the probe arrived again at the vicinity of Jupiter . This time the distance from the planet was much greater — about 240 million km — but it made further observations of Jupiter . 
