The Pioneer Space Program

Over the years, scientists and astronomers alike have made many significant advances in space exploration. In the middle 20th century, scientists and astronomers compiled data, which in turn led to numerous questions concerning the make-up of our solar system. The questions would remain unanswered until technology increased to a level which would help them explore their curiosities. In the mid 1950’s, The Pioneer Space Program began revealing many answers to scientists. Over time this consisted of thirteen satellite’s which all possessed objectives in which some were related, and others entirely different. The Pioneer Space Program progressed through four stages: Pioneer’s 1-5, Pioneers 6-9, Pioneers 10 and 11, and the most recent 12 and 13.
Between 1958 and 1960, Pioneer’s 1-5 were launched. Among the accomplishments of these satellites were; discovery of the first and second radiation belts around earth (Pioneer’s 1 and 3); the first craft to escape Earth’s gravitational pull while passing within 36,650 miles of the moon (Pioneer 4); established a record of 106 days of functionality at a record distance of 22 ½ million miles from earth while reporting a map of the interplanetary magnetic field (Pioneer 5).

Pioneer 10 was launched on March 2, 1972 and was the first spacecraft to encounter Jupiter. At a speed of 32,400 mph, Pioneer 10 sped towards its rendezvous with our Solar System’s largest plant. This made Pioneer 10 the fastest manmade object to leave earth. After maneuvering through the Asteroid Belt and, the spacecraft closed to within 81,000 miles of Jupiter. In its passing of Jupiter, Pioneer 10 gathered the first close-up images of the planet while charting its intense radiation belts. It also located the planets magnetic field and discovered that Jupiter is mostly composed of liquid. After gaining data from Jupiter, Pioneer 10 continued to the outer regions of the Solar system studying Solar Wind and cosmic rays which enter our side of the Milky Way. This spacecraft continued investigating the outer areas of the solar system until its mission ended on March 31, 1997. Although the mission had ended, NASA continued to attempt contact with the spacecraft in which its last transmission was received on earth on February 7th 2003. These transmissions were merely communication links, for the spacecraft’s power supply had degraded to the point that no telemetry (scientifically measured) data could be produced. The last telemetry data transmission by Pioneer 10 occurred on April 27, 2002 (1). Although no further contact is expected, Pioneer 10 is now on a path heading towards the red star Aldebaran, which forms the eye of the constellation Taurus. Aldebaran is approximately 68 light years away and it will take Pioneer over 2 million years to arrive at this destination (4). Pioneer 10 is now ove