Questions tagged [pioneer]
The Pioneer program was a series of United States unmanned planetary exploration missions from 1958 to 1978.
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Help find Pioneer 10 and 11 images?
I've been trying to locate a place where all the images from Pioneers 10 and 11 are stored, and I can't find anything. So, as a result, I'm making one myself. Any images you have or information you ...
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Are the computers on Pioneer 10 & 11 still running?
So, I have been wondering.
Pioneer 10 and 11 went silent because there wasn't enough power left to operate the antenna.
But what happened after that? Was there still enough power to keep the computers ...
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What were the speeds of Pioneer 10 and Voyager 1 when Voyager overtook it in 1998?
On the 14th of February 1998 Voyager 1 passed Pioneer 10 to become the most distant human-made object in space, 10.4 billion kilometres from Earth (69.4 AU from the Sun).
What were the speeds of ...
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When will Voyager 2 overtake Pioneer 10 as the 2nd most distant spacecraft from the Sun?
As of November 2020, Pioneer 10 is the 2nd most distant spacecraft from the Sun and Voyager 2 is the 3rd.
However Voyager 2's heliocentric velocity is significantly higher than Pioneer 10 and it seems ...
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Why does the Sagan-Drake pulsar map have a circle (negative/blank) near the center?
(click to enlarge, source: WikiMedia)
If you look carefully near the center, each of the pulsar line segments have a gap at a specific radius. I can't find any mention of the meaning of this. Any ...
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Are there any accurate velocity plots of all spacecraft that achieved escape velocity from the solar system? (Pioneers, Voyagers, & New Horizons)
The answer to this question provides a seemingly accurate plot of the velocity of Voyager 2 over distance along with the heliocentric escape velocity.
Are there similar graphs for the other 4 ...
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Could one of the interstellar probes discover Planet IX by accident?
Could one or some of the spacecraft sent beyond the Kuiper belt discover (or even disprove) the hypothetical Planet IX? That doesn't necessarily mean coming so close you'd recognize the planet in ...
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Why was the imaging quality of the Voyager probes *much* better than the Pioneer probes despite being launched only 5 years later?
Pioneer 10 and 11 launched in 1972 and 1973, respectively, whereas both Voyager probes launched in 1977. I do expect the imaging quality to improve in 5 years but the difference is a bit too much.
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Where will the Pioneer, Voyager and New Horizons spacecraft be after one galactic orbit?
After the Pioneer, Voyager and New Horizons spacecraft complete one orbit of the Milky Way (in approx. 230-250 million years or one "galactic year"), how close will they then be to our solar system?
(...
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Why did Pioneer 11 use a gravitational assist to swing above the ecliptic plane... twice?
This answer to What do the shaded vertical lines in the animation of Gravity assists of space probes, mean? shows that the Pioneer 11 trajectory brought it close to both Jupiter and Saturn, and at ...
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Where can I get data on deep space satellites or probes like voyager 1
I am doing a research on deep space communication. I need data on any of the man made deep space probes like voyager 1. I need the probe's transmitter power, received power on earth, Signal to noise ...
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Is contact with Pioneer 7 or 8 still possible?
Pioneer 6 to 9 are a series of scientific probes launched 1965-1968 that orbit the Sun at about 0.75 to 1.2 AU. Would it still be possible to contact Pioneer 7 or 8?
This question asks a similar ...
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Why is Voyager/Pioneer so slow compared to Parker Solar Probe?
Deep space probes should be the fastest ones, due to incredible distances they are supposed to travel. AFAIK, Parker Solar (PS) will reach more than 600 000 km/h, incredible. On the other hand, ...
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Why didn't the Pioneer probes maintain communications with Earth as long as the Voyagers have? [duplicate]
The Pioneer Missions. March 26, 2007
PIONEER 10 SPACECRAFT SENDS LAST SIGNAL - After more than 30 years, it
appears the venerable Pioneer 10 spacecraft has sent its last signal
to Earth. ...
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Unknown Moons and Planetary Flybys
I’ve a question for any trajectory experts out there:
The Pioneer and Voyager probes discovered new moons during their flybys of our four giant planets (and indeed rings). These didn’t come as much ...
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Can we talk to Pioneer 6?
My question is relatively simple in the essence that it takes few words to ask, but scientifically may be a nightmare. In 2000, the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex sent a message to ...
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Pioneer spacecraft anomaly [duplicate]
Has the possibility of the "Pioneer Anomaly" as caused by currently inadequate conceptual models of gravity been put to rest by explaining it as caused by on board thermal radiation ? What is the ...
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Did New Horizons also demonstrate the "Pioneer Anomaly"?
In this short but very helpful answer @MikeH provides a link to this short item published in Nature:"...and farewell to the Pioneer Anomaly" which is well worth reading! It references a ...
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How are precision trajectory measurements made of trans-Neptunian spacecraft?
This question asks if Voyager suddenly encountered unexpected gravity from an unseen object, how would it be detected, and there are several answers.
For the farthest probes - those now farther from ...
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Why has the Earth's motion carried it out of view of Pioneer 11's antenna?
According to The Pioneer Missions, my emphasis,
The Pioneer 11 Mission ended on 30 September 1995, when the last transmission from the spacecraft was received. There have been no communications ...
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Why was radio contact with Pioneer lost earlier than with Voyager?
Why was radio contact lost with the Pioneer probes much earlier than with the Voyager probes? The Voyagers were launched only 4 years after the Pioneers, yet the Voyagers are projected to last into ...
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Why didn't Pioneer 11 visit Uranus/Neptune, and why didn't Voyager 1 visit Pluto?
The following image from NASA shows the flight paths of Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2, as well as the positions of the outer planets.
It seems to me that with a little tweaking of ...
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Any evidence for a KBO fly by from one of the Voyagers or Pioneers?
Pioneer 10 was about 80 AU when contact was lost in 2003 and both Voyager 1 and 2 traveled more than 100 AU and they are still operating. This put those 3 probes for years in the range of Kuiper belt ...
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What significance did Pioneer 10 & 11 have?
The images taken by Pioneer 10 and 11 were of much lower quality than those of later planetary probes. I wonder if this is representative also for their other instruments. For example, they don't seem ...
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Delta-v of deep space maneuvers in deep space missions like Voyager or Pioneer
What are typical delta-v for deep space maneuvers, used by deep space missions to outer planets or for "interstellar missions" ? For example, Voyager 1 now has 17 km/s speed relative to the Sun. What ...
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Is there any way to communicate with Pioneer 11 through Voyager 1 or 2?
The position of Pioneer 11 is between Voyager 1 and 2, that means Pioneer 11 is closer to Voyager 1 and 2 than to Earth.
According to the Wikipedia article on Pioneer 11 we lost communication with it ...
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Could radiated heat propel space-craft in outer space?
The comment chain on What is the feasibility of launching a probe to Sedna? indicates RTG thermocouples decay. With the passage of time the thermocouple may even have the ability to transduce an ...
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Is there any way to find and track Pioneer 10, 11, and Voyager 1, 2?
The space probes Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2 are the first man-made devices to have escaped from our solar system.
The main problem they face is the lack of power source in them.
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Where are the upper stages for the Voyager/Pioneer stages?
I was reading this question, and was trying to remember an article I read many years ago. It seemed the article was indicating that there is a chance that one of the boosters from one of these ...
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Where are Pioneer 10, 11 and the Voyagers ultimately headed?
Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, and the two Voyagers are all headed out of the solar system. Has anybody extrapolated where they will all end up (if at all)? Is there a graphic that depicts the direction of ...
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