Pioneer 11

Pioneer 11

An artist's impression of a Pioneer spacecraft on its way to interstellar space.
Mission type	Planetary and heliosphere exploration
Operator	NASA/ARC
COSPAR ID	1973-019A
SATCATno.	6421
Website	Pioneer Project website(archived) NASA Archive page
Mission duration	22 years, 5 months, 25 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	TRW
Launch mass	259 kilograms (571 lb)
Power	155 watts (at launch)
Start of mission
Launch date	April 6, 1973, 02:11:00(1973-04-06UTC02:11Z)UTC
Rocket	Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AStar-37E
Launch site	Cape CanaveralLC-36B
End of mission
Last contact	September 30, 1995(1995-10-01)
Flyby ofJupiter
Closest approach	December 3, 1974
Distance	43,000 kilometers (27,000 miles)
Flyby ofSaturn
Closest approach	September 1, 1979
Distance	21,000 kilometers (13,000 miles)
Pioneer

Pioneer 11(also known asPioneer G) was aNASAspace probeto explore space and gather information. It was the second mission to visitJupiterand the first mission to visitSaturn.Thespace probewas launched onApril 5,1973and flew by Jupiter onDecember 2,1974and Saturn onSeptember 1,1979.

In 1983, Pioneer 11 was predicted to be surpassed byVoyager 1in the distace to the Sun and later byVoyager 2around March 1988.

The probe was last heard on November 24,1995when the last communication betweenEarthand the probe ended due to power limitation and vast diatance, when it was 44.1 AU (4.1 billion miles or 7.5 billion km) from Earth.

By Nov. 5, 2017, Pioneer 11 was estimated to be about 97.590 AU (9.1 billion miles or 14.599 billion kilometers) from Earth.

BothPioneer 10and Pioneer 11 had plaques etched in gold. The plaques were designed by a team lead byCarl Saganto communicate withextraterrestrial lifeshould the spacecraft come into contact with it.

By 2027, Pioneer 11 is predicted to have exited theheliosphereand entered interstellar space.

Related pages

• NASA
• Voyager 1
• Cassini-Huygens

Other websites

• Pioneer Project Home PageArchived2007-09-13 at theWayback Machine
• Pioneer 11 ProfileArchived2007-08-02 at theWayback MachinebyNASA's Solar System Exploration
• Ted Stryk's Pioneer 11 at Saturn pageArchived2007-10-04 at theWayback Machine
• NSSDC Pioneer 11 pageArchived2006-06-15 at theWayback Machine
• Pioneer Odyssey,NASA SP-396, 1977Archived2006-08-13 at theWayback Machine- This is anentire bookabout the Pioneer 10 and 11 project, with all pictures and diagrams, on-line! Scroll down to click on the "Table of Contents" link.