Pioneer 11
robotic space probe launched by NASA for planetary and heliosphere exploration
AI overview
Pioneer 11 was a robotic spacecraft launched by NASA in 1973 to explore the outer planets and study the region of space around the Sun. It became famous for flying past Jupiter and Saturn, sending back the first close-up images of these giant planets and their moons, which greatly expanded our understanding of the solar system.
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Article
Pioneer 11 (also known as Pioneer G) is a NASA robotic space probe launched on April 5, 1973, to study the asteroid belt, the environment around Jupiter and Saturn, the solar wind, and cosmic rays. It was the first probe to encounter Saturn, the second to fly through the asteroid belt, and the second to fly by Jupiter. Later, Pioneer 11 became the second of five artificial objects to achieve an escape velocity allowing it to leave the Solar System. Due to power constraints and the vast distance to the probe, the last routine contact with the spacecraft was on September 30, 1995, and the last good engineering data was received on November 24, 1995.
Mission background