Pioneer 10
Encyclopedia : P : PI : PIO : Pioneer 10
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| Characteristics of the mission: | |
| Name | Pioneer 10 |
| Nation | United States |
| Objective(s) | Study the interplanetary and planetary magnetic fields; solar wind parameters; cosmic rays; transition region of the heliosphere; neutral hydrogen abundance; distribution, size, mass, flux, and velocity of dust particles; Jovian aurorae; Jovian radio waves; atmosphere of Jupiter and some of its satellites, particularly Io; and to photograph Jupiter and its satellites. |
| Craft | Pioneer-F |
| Craft – Weight | 258 kg |
| Administration and planning of mission | Ames Research Center - NASA |
| Launch vehicle | Atlas/Centaur/TE364-4 |
| Date and time of launch | 03 March 1972 at 01:49:00 UTC |
| Launched from | Launch Complex 36A, Cape Canaveral |
| Scientific instruments/ Technology experiments |
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Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt, and was the first spacecraft to make direct observations of Jupiter. It was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 36A on March 2, 1972. By some definitions, Pioneer 10 has become the first artificial object to leave the solar system. However, it still has not passed the heliopause or Oort cloud.
Mission
Built by TRW [link], the spacecraft made valuable scientific investigations in the outer regions of our solar system until the end of its mission on March 31, 1997. The Pioneer 10's weak signal continued to be tracked by the Deep Space Network as part of a new advanced concept study of chaos theory. Before 1997 the probe was used in the training of flight controllers on how to acquire radio signals from space.
The last, very weak, signal from Pioneer 10 was received on January 23, 2003. A contact attempt on February 7, 2003 was not successful. The last successful reception of telemetry was on April 27, 2002; subsequent signals were barely strong enough to detect. Loss of contact was probably due to a combination of increasing distance and the spacecraft's steadily weakening power source, rather than failure of the craft. One final attempt was made on the evening of March 4, 2006, the last time the antenna would be correctly aligned with Earth. No response was received from Pioneer.[link]
Pioneer 10 is heading in the direction of the star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus. It will take Pioneer over 2 million years to reach it. Pioneer 10 was fitted with a plaque to serve as a message for extraterrestrial life, in the event of its discovery.
Timeline
July 15, 1972 Entered the Asteroid Belt.
December 3, 1973 Pioneer 10 sent back the first close-up images of Jupiter.
June 13 1983 Pioneer 10 passed the orbit of Neptune, then the outermost planet because of Pluto's highly eccentric orbit.
March 31, 1997 End of mission.
February 17, 1998 Famed for a time as the most remote object ever made by man, at last contact Pioneer 10 was over 7.60 billion miles away from Earth. (Until February 17, 1998, the heliocentric radial distance of Pioneer 10 had been greater than that of any other man-made object. But later on that date, Voyager 1's heliocentric radial distance, in the approximate apex direction, equaled that of Pioneer 10 at 69.419 AU. Afterward, Voyager 1's distance continues to exceed that of Pioneer 10 at the approximate rate of 1.016 AU per year.)
March 2, 2002 Successful reception of telemetry. 39 minutes of clean data receaved from a distance of 79.83 AU.
April 27, 2002 The last successful reception of telemetry. 33 minutes of clean data receaved from a distance of 80.22 AU.
January 23, 2003 The last, very weak, signal from Pioneer 10 was received. Subsequent signals were barely strong enough to detect.
February 7, 2003 Unsuccessful contact attempt.
December 30, 2005 Pioneer 10 was 89.7 AU away from the Sun.
March 4, 2006 Final attempt at contact. No response was received from Pioneer.
Pioneer anomaly
Analysis of the radio tracking data from the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft at distances between 20–70 AU from the Sun has consistently indicated the presence of a small but anomalous Doppler frequency drift. The drift can be interpreted as due to a constant acceleration of (8.74 ± 1.33) × 10−10 m/s2 directed towards the Sun. Although it is suspected that there is a systematic origin to the effect, none has been found. As a result, there is growing interest in the nature of this anomaly.
Gallery
Fictional references
Pioneer 10 was used for target practice and easily destroyed by a Klingon Bird of Prey in the movie .Pioneer 10 was also seen in episode 1.12 of Futurama in a quick pull from Earth to the planet Omicron Persei 8.
The Pioneer 10 Probe was mentioned in L. Ron Hubbard's novel 'Battlefield Earth'. The race that invaded earth, the Psychlos, found the plaque on board the spacecraft, guiding them to Earth. Apparently the plaque was made of a metal that was very valuable on the galactic commodity market. The novel begins in the year 3000, a millennium after finding Pioneer 10 and the subsequent invasion of Earth.
External links
- [Pioneer Project Home Page]
- [NSSDC Pioneer 10 page]
- [Pioneer Odyssey, NASA SP-396, 1977] - This is an entire book about the Pioneer 10 and 11 project, with all pictures and diagrams, on-line! Scroll down to click on the "Table of Contents" link.
- [Mark Wolverton's The Depths of Space online]
- [A distant Pioneer whispers to Earth] - CNN article, Dec. 19, 2002
- [2005 Pioneer Anomaly Conference] - Mentions March 4, 2006 Contact Attempt
| Pioneer |
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| Previous mission: Pioneer 6, 7, 8 and 9 | Next mission: Pioneer 11 | |
| Pioneer 0 | Pioneer 1 | Pioneer 2 | Pioneer 3 | Pioneer 4 | Pioneer P-1 (W) | Pioneer P-3 (X) | Pioneer P-30 (Y) | Pioneer P-31 (Z) | ||
| Pioneer 5 (P-2) | Pioneer 6, 7, 8 and 9 | Pioneer 10 | Pioneer 11 | Pioneer H | Pioneer Venus project | ||
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