This image from March 2, 1959 shows engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory checking NASA's Pioneer 4 spacecraft, the gold-and-black-colored cone sitting atop the white fourth-stage motor of the Juno II launch vehicle in Florida. Launched on March 3, 1959, NASA's Pioneer 4 was the first American mission to escape Earth orbit and the second of two early attempts by the United States to send a spacecraft to the Moon. The spacecraft achieved its primary objective — to put itself on a trajectory from Earth to the Moon. While it flew farther away from the Moon than expected and didn't take the images of the Moon as intended, Pioneer 4 did provide extensive and valuable data on Earth's radiation belt and the tracking of space objects. After 82 hours of transmissions from Pioneer 4's tiny radio and 655,000 miles (1.05 million kilometers) of travel — the farthest tracking distance for a human-made object at the time — contact is lost on March 6, 1959. Pioneer 4 is still in orbit around the Sun. The mission was carried out while JPL was transitioning from being part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency to NASA. It marked the end of the U.S. Army's pioneering space program and the beginning of NASA's lunar program. JPL, in Pasadena, California, was responsible for mission design and management for both agencies. More information about Pioneer 4 can be found at: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/pioneer-4/in-depth/ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23497

PIONEER F (PIONEER-10) SPACECRAFT AT CAPE KENNEDY BEING READIED FOR MISSION (SHOWS THE POSITION OF THE PIONEER INTERSTALLER PLAQUE)

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Photograph by Pioneer 10 Ganymede as seen by Pioneer 10

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Artist: Fornalski Pioneer Spacecraft Composite 'The Pioneer Family' Probes 6-9, 10, 11 and Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe or Bus (12-13)

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Artist: Rick Guidice Pioneer 10 Crosses the Asteriod Belt: If spacecraft are to visit the outer Solar System, they must cross the asteroid belt between Mars and Jpiter. The Pioneer mission was faced with the question of just how dangerous this astroid belt would be to a spacecraft passing throught it. Note: used in NASA SP-349 'Pioneer Odyssey - Encounter with a Giant' fig. 1-24 and SP-446 ' Pioneer - First to Jupiter, Saturn, and Beyond' fig 1-24

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Photographs and Captions courtesy of Joseph and Donna Roizen Telegen, Palo Alto, CA (from) Pioneer 10 and 11 Missions Jupiter encounters - Activities at Ames Research Center December 1973 and December 1974 - As a memento of the highly successful Pioneer 10 and 11 missions to Jupiter, this collection of photographs represents a sampling of those taken at Ames Research Center during the Jupiter encounter periods in December 1973 and December 1974. The captions for these photographs are meant to suggest the lighter side of the intense activities that took place during these periods. I would like to express my gratitude to all participants in the Pioneer 10/11 program for their teamwork in accomplishing the scientific and technical objectives of the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions to Jupiter. (signed) Charles F. Hall - Manager, Pioneer Project Charles F. Hall ' Pioneers 10 and 11 not only made schedule, but they got 51,326.149 miles per gallon and met EPA environment pollution limits.'

Perspective View of Ishtar Terra

Pioneer F/G Plaque: Pioneer 10 the first spacecraft to leave our solar system carries a message to other worlds. The plaque was designed by Drs. Carl Sagan and Frank Drake, the artwork was prepared by Linda Salzman Sagan.

Photographs and Captions courtesy of Joseph and Donna Roizen Telegen, Palo Alto, CA (from) Pioneer 10 and 11 Missions Jupiter encounters - Activities at Ames Research Center December 1973 and December 1974 - As a memento of the highly successful Pioneer 10 and 11 missions to Jupiter, this collection of photographs represents a sampling of those taken at Ames Research Center during the Jupiter encounter periods in December 1973 and December 1974. The captions for these photographs are meant to suggest the lighter side of the intense activities that took place during these periods. I would like to express my gratitude to all participants in the Pioneer 10/11 program for their teamwork in accomplishing the scientific and technical objectives of the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions to Jupiter. (signed) Charles F. Hall - Manager, Pioneer Project Dr. Darrell l Judge 'I hope they are giving prizes for the best looking man at this conference because I finally got my moustache looking perfect.'

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Composite Pioneer 10 imagery Excitement rose as the PICS displayed images of Jupiter of ever-increasing size as Pioneer 10 plunged at high speed toward its closest approach to the planet. The most dramatic moment was perhaps after closest approach and after the spacecraft has been hidden behind Jupiter. PICS (Pioneer Image Converter System) began to show a few spots on the screens, which gradually built up into a very distorted crescent-shaped Jupiter. 'Sunrise on Jupiter,' exclaimed an experimenter excitedly. 'We've made it safely through periapsis.' Subsequent PICS images were of a crescent Jupiter gradually decreasing in size as the spacecraft sped away out of the Jovian system. Note: used in NASA SP-349 'Pioneer Odyssey - Encounter with a Giant' fig. 5-15 and SP-446 ' Pioneer - First to Jupiter, Saturn, and Beyond' fig. 5-16.

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Pioneer 10 and 11 Missions Jupiter encounters - Activities at Ames Research Center December 1973 and December 1974 - As a memento of the highly successful Pioneer 10 and 11 missions to Jupiter, this collection of photographs represents a sampling of those taken at Ames Research Center during the Jupiter encounter periods in December 1973 and December 1974. The captions for these photographs are meant to suggest the lighter side of the intense activities that took place during these periods. I would like to express my gratitude to all participants in the Pioneer 10/11 program for their teamwork in accomplishing the scientific and technical objectives of the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions to Jupiter. (signed) Charles F. Hall - Manager, Pioneer Project L-R: Dr. John H Wolfe, Robert R Nunamaker, Alfred M. Worden

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NASA Photographs and Captions courtesy of Joseph and Donna Roizen Telegen, Palo Alto, CA (from) Pioneer 10 and 11 Missions Jupiter encounters - Activities at Ames Research Center December 1973 and December 1974 - As a memento of the highly successful Pioneer 10 and 11 missions to Jupiter, this collection of photographs represents a sampling of those taken at Ames Research Center during the Jupiter encounter periods in December 1973 and December 1974. The captions for these photographs are meant to suggest the lighter side of the intense activities that took place during these periods. I would like to express my gratitude to all participants in the Pioneer 10/11 program for their teamwork in accomplishing the scientific and technical objectives of the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions to Jupiter. (signed) Charles F. Hall - Manager, Pioneer Project Dr. Carl Sagan 'Anybody who doesn't believe there are frogs in the Jovian atmosphere is going t hear from me.'