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$Unique_ID{bob01154}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Pioneer
Front Matter}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Fimmel, Richard O.;Allen, James Van;Burgess, Eric}
$Affiliation{Ames Research Center;University Of Iowa;Science Writer}
$Subject{pioneer
space
saturn
system
jupiter
solar
first
pioneers
mission
book}
$Date{1980}
$Log{}
Title: Pioneer
Book: Pioneer: First To Jupiter, Saturn, And Beyond
Author: Fimmel, Richard O.;Allen, James Van;Burgess, Eric
Affiliation: Ames Research Center;University Of Iowa;Science Writer
Date: 1980
Front Matter
Overview
Pioneer was the first step in man's exploration of the outer solar
system. It helped us explore planetary objects so unusual that their very
existence were difficult to comprehend intellectually. Mankind was thereby
able to replace the speculative images of Jupiter and Saturn with actual
physical reports, initiating a new stage of space exploration.
Foreword
Some ventures are appropriately named, and Pioneer is surely one of them.
The people associated with this program really are pioneers of space
exploration. Often it seems that pioneers, being out in front, do not receive
the general recognition that historically they should deserve. Fortunately,
this is not the case with these Pioneer explorations of Jupiter and Saturn.
Many people are beginning to understand the tremendous revolutionary steps we
are starting to take into the future as we make important discoveries about
the planets of the outer Solar System, as we find out things that we had no
glimmering of before these pioneering missions. I anticipate that years from
now, when people look back on our time, they will single out the Pioneer
program as one of special importance to space science and the broadening of
our intellectual horizon.
We have now moved out beyond the familiar part of the Solar System to
explore planetary objects so unusual that their very existence was something
people might accept intellectually but not really in any immediate sense.
I like to compare this latter part of the 20th century with the 15th and
16th centuries, the time during which the oceans of Earth were first explored.
The sailing ships first edged their way along the shores of Europe. Then they
felt their way around Africa. Finally, they struck out across the open oceans
and headed for lands so remote, countries so extraordinary, that the reports
of the returning explorers were even more incredible than the fictions they
replaced. With Pioneer, we felt our way out through the asteroid belt and
struck out into the uncharted oceans of the outer Solar System. The
excitement of the first flybys of Jupiter and Saturn was a unique experience,
enabling us to replace the speculative images of Jupiter and Saturn with
actual physical reports. The Pioneers truly initiated a new stage of space
exploration, blazing a trail for other spacecraft: the Voyagers, Galileo,
other spacecraft yet unnamed, and some even unimagined.
Dr. Thomas A. Mutch
Associate Administrator for Space Science
NASA Headquarters
Introduction
The Pioneer spacecraft have ventured into previously unexplored space far
beyond the orbit of Mars, and their missions have added greatly to mankind's
knowledge of our Solar System. Throughout history, man has been driven by his
innate sense of adventure and curiosity to explore new frontiers, to study
what he has found, and to add to his understanding of his place in the cosmos.
Author James Michener, in testimony before a Congressional subcommittee,
provided an excellent description of this drive and its importance to our
civilization:
"I do not for a moment believe that the spiritual well-being
of our nation depends primarily upon a successful space program. I
am sure that we could as a nation attain great spiritual reassurance
from rebuilding our cities or distributing our farm produce better.
But I also believe that there are moments in history when
challenges occur of such a compelling nature that to miss them is
to miss the whole meaning of an epoch. Space is such a challenge.
We risk great peril if we kill off this spirit of adventure,
for we cannot predict how and in what seemingly unrelated fields it
will manifest itself. A nation which loses its forward thrust is
in danger, and one of the most effective ways to retain that thrust
is to keep exploring possibilities. The sense of exploration is
intimately bound up with human resolve, and for a nation to believe
that it is still committed to forward motion is to ensure its
continuance.
We should be most careful about retreating from the specific
challenge of our age. We should be reluctant to turn our back upon
the frontier of this epoch. Space is indifferent to what we do; it
has no feeling, no design, no interest in whether we grapple with it
or not. But we cannot be indifferent to space, because the grand
slow march of our intelligence has brought us, in our generation,
to a point from which we can explore and understand and utilize
it. To turn back now would be to deny our history, our capabilities."
The Pioneers have been true explorers - the first to navigate the
asteroid belts, the first to encounter Jupiter and its fierce radiation belts
and Saturn and its rings, and they will be the first manmade objects to leave
our Solar System. They have probed new frontiers and explored regions of the
Solar System very different from those of the inner system near Earth.
Originally, the Pioneer missions were intended to explore only Jupiter and the
interplanetary space beyond Mars, but as the mission progressed an opportunity
to reach Saturn also developed and the pathway was opened to another
unexplored planet. To carry out their missions, the Pioneers have traveled
enormous distances and have operated effectively for extended periods. In so
doing, the engineering accomplishments of this mission have matched the
scientific accomplishments. Pioneers 10 and 11 have been in space over 8
years and 7 years, respectively, and have traveled 4.6 billion kilometers and
4.1 billion kilometers, respectively. All of the spacecraft systems continue
to operate reliably after the years In deep space and in spite of encounters
with hostile radiation environments.
The mission has continued far beyond achieving its original objectives.
The spacecraft continue to send data as they reach toward the boundaries of
the Solar System. To undertake a mission of such length called for great and
continued dedication on the part of scientists and engineers who had to devote
a major portion of their professional careers to the mission. The Pioneers
and the people who made them possible have clearly met the challenge of which
Michener spoke.
C. A. Syvertson, Director
Ames Research Center
Author's Preface
The success of Pioneer 1 in its encounter with Saturn and the continued
mission of Pioneers 10 and 11 into the outer Solar System necessitated an
updating of the earlier publications (SP-349, Pioneer Odyssey, Encounter with
a Giant, and SP-349/396, Pioneer Odyssey). Results from further analyses of
data from the encounters with Jupiter, interplanetary results, and results
from Pioneer 11 's encounter with Saturn are included. Because the
bibliography associated with this mission has now become extremely large and
continues to grow, it is published separately as NASA Technical Memorandum
81233, available from NASA Scientific and Technical Information Facility, P.O.
Box 8757, Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Md. 21240.
In the preparation of this book, the authors gratefully acknowledge
having drawn upon the work of many others too numerous to mention
individually. Many scientists and project staff personnel were interviewed
during research to assemble material for the book. Of particular importance
was valuable assistance in the form of initial suggestions and later comments
on all or parts of the drafts of the book by Robert R. Nunamaker, John W.
Dyer, and John H. Wolfe. The reviews by principal investigators and members
of their teams are also appreciated.
Personnel from Ames Research Center, the Pioneer Project Staff, the
Technical Information Division, and the Phototechnology Branch were
particularly helpful in providing information and research material and in
producing the book.
The authors aree also indebted to personnel of the Lunar and Planetary
Laboratory and the Optical Sciences Center of the University of Arizona for
astronomical information and photographs and for the production of images of
Jupiter and Saturn reproduced in this book. Special thanks must be given to
Edward Beshore, James J. Burke, Bruce DaCosta, Joseph S. Gotobed, Robert
Kingston, Robin Strickland (computer processing), Charles Blenman, Jr., Lyn R.
Doose, Charles Ken Knight, and John W. Fountan (photographic processing).
Additional thanks must be given to William Swindell, University of
Arizona, for use of material written for the earlier Pioneer publications and
incorporated into this new publication.
Richard O. Fimmel
Manager, Pioneer Missions
Ames Research Center
James A. Van Allen
Professor of Physics
University of Iowa
Eric Burgess
Science Writer
August 1980