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 MarsTo 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
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 10IPP - 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.