All hail the most successful space mission. The amazing 30-year run of Pioneer 10. We have received the last transmission now, from far outside the solar system. Pioneer 10 story
My dad still thinks that we should be using the Saturn 5 rocket, he swears that it was the greatest rocket ever.
Thanks for the article B-Bob. Hey FWIW, ever notice how in SciFi flicks, they always show ships entering the solar system by Pluto, then passing each planet as they closer to Earth (and it's impending doom, of course). But when you think about it, interstellar ships would most likely approach from above or below the orbital plane formed by the planets. There would be no need for them to pass by plants....ok, whatever.
Cohen, you're so right. Not only that, but the planets wouldn't be all lined up! Some would be on the opposite side of the orbital plane anyway! As for the Saturn 5, I totally agree. Apparently, they have (not kidding here) LOST the plans for that rocket and we could not currently rebuild it. Very sad.
B-Bob - isn't there a Saturn5 rocket laying on the ground by NASA? I don't see how they could "lost" the plans...
Sonny, It's just a shell I believe. I know the one you're speaking of. I have heard from my pa, who worked there for 30 years, that the blueprints cannot be located -- so we couldn't build a new one from scratch at this point. It is supposedly a big stinky internal NASA issue. I could be wrong though. I agree that it is hard to believe... But then, NASA's golden years seem to be far behind it, sadly.
In case no one read the article, here it is from cnn.com Pioneer 10 falls silent after nearly 31 years Tuesday, February 25, 2003 Posted: 9:33 PM EST (0233 GMT) LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Pioneer 10, the first spacecraft to venture out of the solar system, has fallen silent after traveling billions of miles from Earth on a mission that has lasted nearly 31 years, NASA said Tuesday. What was apparently the spacecraft's last signal was received January 22 by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Deep Space Network. At the time, Pioneer 10 was 7.6 billion miles from Earth; the signal, traveling at the speed of light, took 11 hours and 20 minutes to arrive. The signal and the two previous signals were very faint. The Deep Space Network heard nothing from Pioneer 10 during a final attempt at contact on February 7. No more attempts are planned. Pioneer 10 was launched March 2, 1972, on a 21-month mission. It became the first spacecraft to pass through the asteroid belt and the first to obtain close-up images of Jupiter. In 1983, it became the first manmade object to leave the solar system when it passed the orbit of distant Pluto. Although Pioneer 10's mission officially ended in 1997, scientists continued to track the TRW Inc.-built spacecraft as part of a study of communication technology for NASA's future Interstellar Probe mission. Pioneer 10 hasn't relayed telemetry data since April 27. "It was a workhorse that far exceeded its warranty, and I guess you could say we got our money's worth," said Larry Lasher, Pioneer 10 project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center. Pioneer 10 carries a gold plaque engraved with a message of goodwill and a map showing the Earth's location in the solar system. The spacecraft continues to coast toward the star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus. It will take 2 million years to reach it.
It's absolutely amazing!! Did you read the part about where the signal was traveling the speed of light, and only took 2 hours to reach earth. I didn't realize communcations signlals could travel that fast. I am not in the engineering field, can anyone explain how this works?
Actually, AP76, I think the quote was: "At that distance, it takes more than 11 hours and 20 minutes for the radio signal, traveling at the speed of light, to reach the Earth." Anyway, all radio, microwave, X-ray, gamma ray energies travel at the same speed as visible light. And that's about... 300,000 kilometers per *second*, in the vacuum of outer space. They slow down in air, a tiny bit, and even more in something like water. We think nothing but nothing can travel any faster than that. The amazing thing is, even with that great speed, it takes about four years for light from the *nearest* star to get to us. Everything you look at in the night sky, star wise, is historical light, most of it hundreds and thousands of years old. Is this helping or am I even getting to your question?
Is this the plaque by Carl Sagan & co that is supposed to be decipherable by any intelligent being because it is built entirely on logical constructs and does not require any understanding of human mores?
We are a naked, white, pubeless people, with small genitalia, and we come in peace from the third planet.
No, no this is helping and your right, it is 11 hours. I understand about the stars light taking years to travel to earth, I just dind't know that radio waves traveled at the speed of light. It makes an interesting case for new communication bands, like infared being used on spacecraft. I've always been fascinated with the space program, so this is a topic thread is a rare treat. It's possible that Pioneer 10 stopped transmitting because it was picked up by someone - Yes I am just making a joke here.
