5 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
This April 5 marks the 50th anniversary of the launch, in 1973, by NASA from Cape Canaveral, of the Pioneer 11 space probe, first to reach and photograph the planet Saturn up close.
After successfully passing through the asteroid belt on April 19, 1974, its velocity was adjusted to bring its path close to Jupiter. During his flyby of Jupiter on December 4, 1974, he imaged the Great Red Spot, made the first observations of the polar regions, and determined the mass of Callisto.
On September 1, 1979, he arrived at Saturn, taking the first close-up photographs of the planet, where he was able to discover two new satellites and additional rings. After his encounter with Saturn, continued his route towards the outside of the Solar System, studying the energetic particles of the solar wind.
Pioneer probes got their power from a radioactive isotope source (RTG). The loss of efficiency of these electric generators determined the end of its mission at the end of 1995.
As was done with the Pioneer 10 probe, and later Voyager probes, the probe included a plaque on its structure with a message explaining the origin of the probe to a possible extraterrestrial culture.
The plate includes a figure of a man, a woman, the transitions of the hydrogen atom and the position of the Sun and the Earth in the galaxy, which is often attributed to the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, lending itself to general confusion. since these ships have other plates, reports Wikipedia. The plate was designed by Carl Sagan and Frank Drake being drawn by Linda Salzman Sagan.
