Pioneer10 spacecraft was launched on March 2, 1972 on a mission to study the outer solar system. Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to travel through the Asteroid Belt and take close-up images of Jupiter. While at Jupiter, Pioneer 10 charted Jupiter’s intense radiation belts, located the magnetic field, and discovered that Jupiter was mostly a gaseous planet. After leaving Jupiter, Pioneer 10 explored the outer region of the solar system. It studied the energetic particles of the solar wind and the cosmic rays entering our solar system from deep space.

In 1983, Pioneer 10 became the first object to go beyond Pluto. It continued to make valuable scientific investigations until its mission ended on March 31, 1997. When its mission ended, Pioneer 10 was at a distance of 6.28 billion miles from Earth. It took over 9 hours and 43 minutes for the radio signal, traveling at the speed of light, to reach Earth. The last time it returned data was April 27, 2002. Scientists believe its radioisotope power source has decayed to the point it cannot send any detectable transmissions. The last signal it sent was received on January 23, 2003. NASA’s last attempt to contact Pioneer 10 was February 7, 2003. Pioneer 10 was continually tracked as an advanced concept study of communication technology for future interstellar probe missions.

Pioneer 10 carries a gold plaque with an image of a man and a woman along with goodwill information about Earth. It is currently 7.29 billion miles away from Earth, traveling at 27,830 miles per hour. Pioneer 10 will continue to coast silently into interstellar space. Pioneer 10 is heading toward the constellation Taurus (the Bull), at its red-orange star Aldebaran (the Eye of the Bull). Aldebaran is about 68 light years away, and it will take Pioneer 10 about 2 million years to reach the giant star.