← ALL PROBES
DISTANCE FROM SUN117.5429 AU
DISTANCE FROM EARTH116.6225 AU
VELOCITY11.143 km/s
LIGHT TIME16.2 hours
UPDATED1h ago
117.5429
AU FROM SUN
DISTANCE
17,584,167,556 km
40,115
KM/H
VELOCITY
22 years, 231 days
MISSION DURATION
TOTAL
16.2
HOURS LIGHT TIME
ONE-WAY SIGNAL DELAY
259
KG
LAUNCH MASS
3
TARGETS
Jupiter, Saturn, Outer Solar System
Pioneer 11 is a flyby mission by NASA / ARC targeting Outer Solar System. Launched April 6, 1973. Currently 117.5429 AU from the Sun.
ABOUT PIONEER 11
Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to study Saturn at close range and the second to fly through the asteroid belt and past Jupiter. It used Jupiter’s gravity to slingshot toward Saturn, arriving in September 1979. Contact was lost in November 1995 when its RTG power dropped below the threshold needed to operate instruments.
KEY DISCOVERIES
- First close images of Saturn and its rings
- Discovered Saturns F ring
- Measured Saturns magnetic field
TECHNOLOGY & FIRSTS
- First spacecraft to fly by Saturn
- First to observe Saturns rings at close range
- Carries Pioneer plaque
SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS (10)
Imaging Photopolarimeter
IR Radiometer
UV Photometer
Magnetometer
Plasma Analyzer
Charged Particle Detector
Cosmic Ray Telescope
Geiger Tube Telescope
Meteoroid Detector
Flux-Gate Magnetometer
SPACECRAFT SPECIFICATIONS
Launch Mass259 kg (571 lbs)
PowerRTG (Plutonium-238)
PropulsionHydrazine thrusters
Launch VehicleAtlas-Centaur
Launch DateApril 6, 1973
Arrival DateSeptember 1, 1979
Mission EndNovember 24, 1995
ProgramPioneer
MISSION TRAJECTORY
1
Jupiter
2
Saturn
3
Outer Solar System
LAUNCH HISTORY
OTHER OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM MISSIONS
🚀 LAUNCH MISSION