Pioneer 10: The First 7 Billion Miles
Explanation:
Q: What was made by humans and is 7.3 billion miles away?
A: Pioneer 10 --
and 1997 was
the
25th anniversary of its launch.
Almost 11 light-hours distant,
Pioneer 10 is presently about twice as far from the Sun
as Pluto, and
bound for interstellar space
at 28,000 miles per hour.
The distinction of being the first human artifact to venture
beyond the known planets of the Solar System is
just one in a long list of firsts for
this
spacefaring ambassador, including;
the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt
and explore the outer
Solar System,
the first spacecraft to
visit
Jupiter,
and the first to use a planet's
gravity
to change its course and to reach
solar-system-escape velocity.
Pioneer 10's mission is nearing an end.
Now exploring the distant reaches
of the heliosphere
it will soon run out of sufficient
electrical power to operate science instruments.
However,
the
570 lb. spacecraft will continue to coast and
in 30,000 years or so it will pass within about 3 light years
of
nearby star Ross 248.
Ross 248 is a faint red dwarf just over 10 light years distant in
the constellation Taurus.
(Note: In 1998
Voyager 1, launched 5 years later but traveling
faster than Pioneer 10, became humanity's most distant spacecraft.)
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
