Pioneer 11 Program
NASA’s Pioneer 11 program extended the Pioneer portfolio from Jupiter to Saturn. Launched on 6 April 1973, it returned the first close-up observations of Saturn, including measurements of its rings, atmosphere, magnetic field, and moons, after using Jupiter’s gravity to redirect the spacecraft. NASA received its last transmission on 30 September 1995, and the spacecraft continued on an escape trajectory from the solar system.
Identity
- Aliases
- Pioneer 11Pioneer-GPioneer Saturn MissionPioneer 1973
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Name
- Pioneer 11 Program
- Status
- completed
- Types
- explorationscienceresearchoperations
Details
- Description
- NASA’s Pioneer 11 program extended the Pioneer portfolio from Jupiter to Saturn. Launched on 6 April 1973, it returned the first close-up observations of Saturn, including measurements of its rings, atmosphere, magnetic field, and moons, after using Jupiter’s gravity to redirect the spacecraft. NASA received its last transmission on 30 September 1995, and the spacecraft continued on an escape trajectory from the solar system.
- End Date
- 1995-09-30
- Leads
- Parent Program
- Participants
- -
- Start Date
- 1973-04-06
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 13, 2026 at 14:37:43 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 13, 2026 at 14:37:43 UTC
Other
- Official Urls
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/pioneer-11/https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/saturn/40-years-ago-pioneer-11-first-to-explore-saturn/https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/45-years-ago-pioneer-11-launches-goes-be-first-human-made-object-to-fly-past-saturn/https://science.nasa.gov/resource/pioneer-11-at-saturn/