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    Pioneer pic
    Pioneer pic
    Spacecraft and Mission Description
    Pioneer 10 was launched toward Jupiter in 1972. This spacecraft was the first one to fly to Jupiter, Saturn, and beyond. After Pioneer 10 emerged through the asteroid belt, Pioneer 11 was launched on a similar trajectory on April 5, 1973. Both launches used an Atlas/Centaur/TE364-4 launch vehicle.

    Mission Objectives or Goals
    To explore the interstellar medium beyond Mars
    To investigate the asteroid belt and assess hazards for outer planet Missions

    To provide in-situ measurements of the Jovian radiation environment and magnetosphere.
    To provide in-situ measurements of the distant heliosphere.

    Note: The Pioneer Missions were carried out before effective processes for archiving were in place. As a result documentation of the mission is incomplete and some data is missing. A NASA special report, designed for the general public may fill in some of the missing information.

    Mission Description (See P10_MISSION.CAT & P11_MISSION.CAT)

    Spacecraft Description (See P10_INST_HOST.CAT & P11_INST_HOST.CAT)

    Understanding the Instruments and Archived Data


    IRR- Infrared Radiometer -No data archived
    See Pioneer 11 Infrared Radiometer Experiment: A. Ingersoll, et al., Science 2 May 1975 Vol. 188, Issue 4187, pp. 472-473, DOI: 10.1126/science.188.4187.472
    UV- Ultraviolet Photometer Pioneer 10

    IPP - Imaging Photopolarimeter No data archived - See Pioneer 10

    PA - Plasma Analyzer Pioneer 10

    TRD - Trapped Radiation detector Pioneer 10

    FGM - Flux-Gate Magnetometer Pioneer 11
    HVM - Helium Vector Magnetometer Pioneer 10

    CPI - Charged Particle Instrument Pioneer 10

    GTT - Geiger Tube Telescope Pioneer 11
    CRT - Cosmic Ray Telescope Pioneer 10

    AMD - Asteroid Meteoroid Detector – No data – See publications for references
    POS - Spacecraft Position Pioneer 10


    Other Useful Products for Interpreting the Data
    Publications – A listing of team members to facilitate literature searches.