Pioneer

A series of 11 American spacecraft, launched between 1958 and 1973. Pioneers 1 to 4 were directed towards the Moon and all failed. Pioneers 5 to 9 were put in orbits around the Sun and were used to study the Sun and conditions in interplanetary space. Pioneers 10 and 11 were highly successful flyby missions, Pioneer 10 to Jupiter and Pioneer 11 to both Jupiter and Saturn. Pioneer 10 was launched on 3 March 1972 and passed Jupiter on 4 December 1973 at a distance of 132,000 kilometres (82,000 miles), returning the best pictures of the planet up to that time. It continued to transmit information continuously while heading out of the solar system. On 30 March 1996, when it was more than 66 AU from the Sun, it was permanently shut down. Pioneer 11 was launched on 6 April 1973 to encounter Jupiter on 3 December 1974 at a distance of 42,800 kilometres (26,600 miles) and Saturn on 1 September 1979 at 20,800 kilometres (13,000 miles).