Pioneer 7
NASA's Pioneer 7 was launched into a heliocentric orbit to study the Sun's magnetic fields and the solar wind. It studied Earth's magnetic tail and, on March 20, 1986, flew within 7.5 million miles (12.1 million kilometers) of Halley's comet—the closest approach by a U.S. spacecraft.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Pioneer 7Pioneer BPioneer 7 Solar Weather Station
- Name
- Pioneer 7
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- NASA's Pioneer 7 was launched into a heliocentric orbit to study the Sun's magnetic fields and the solar wind. It studied Earth's magnetic tail and, on March 20, 1986, flew within 7.5 million miles (12.1 million kilometers) of Halley's comet—the closest approach by a U.S. spacecraft.
- Destination
- Heliocentric orbit at approximately 1.01 AU perihelion and 1.125 AU aphelion (402.95-day period), with a 12.1-million-km Halley comet flyby
- End Date
- 1995-03-31
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- Long-duration heliophysics mission. Pioneer 7 measured solar-wind characteristics, investigated Earth's magnetic tail, and distinguished solar from galactic cosmic rays. It flew within 7.5 million miles (12.1 million kilometers) of Halley's comet on March 20, 1986, the closest approach for a U.S. spacecraft; NASA maintained intermittent contact into the 1990s, with final contact on March 31, 1995.
- Programs
- Start Date
- 1966-08-17
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/pioneer-7/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 14, 2026 at 17:51:45 UTC
- Updated Time
- September 7, 2026 at 23:48:47 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles