Pioneer 10 — launch
Date in UTC
Pioneer 10 (originally designated Pioneer F) is a NASA space probe launched in 1972 that completed the first mission to the planet Jupiter. It was the first spacecraft to traverse the asteroid belt and the first of five artificial objects to achieve the escape velocity needed to leave the Solar System. The mission was managed by NASA Ames Research Center in California, and the spacecraft was built by TRW Inc. The spacecraft was built around a hexagonal satellite bus with a 2.74 m (9.0 ft) diameter parabolic high-gain antenna and was spin-stabilized about the antenna axis. Electrical power was supplied by four radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which produced a combined 155 watts at launch.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_10. Related NASA reference: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/pioneer-10/. Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- Category
- Launches and Flight Tests
- Type
- Orbital launch
- Subjects
- Space transportation
- Mission
- Pioneer 10
- Organization
- NASA Lewis Research Center
- Vehicle
- Atlas SLV-3C Centaur
- Location
- Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida
- Country
- US
- Outcome
- Successful
Sources and attribution
- Jonathan McDowell — General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (opens in a new tab) — Data from GCAT (J. McDowell, planet4589.org/space/gcat), CC BY 4.0. Adapted into anniversary records. (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikipedia — Pioneer 10 (opens in a new tab) — Adapted from Wikipedia contributors; selected sentences retained and edited for length, reference markers and pronunciation glosses. CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Article and edit history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_10 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Timeline of Space Exploration Missions 1957 to 2031 (opens in a new tab)
- NASA — Pioneer 10 (opens in a new tab)
- NASA NSSDCA — Pioneer 10 (opens in a new tab)