Pioneer 10, the world’s first outer-planetary probe, was launched
from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to Jupiter, the solar
system’s largest planet.
In December 1973, after successfully negotiating the asteroid belt
and a distance of 620 million miles, Pioneer 10 reached Jupiter
and sent back to Earth the first close-up images of the spectacular
gas giant.
In June 1983, the NASA spacecraft left the solar system and the
next day radioed back the first scientific data on interstellar space.
NASA officially ended the Pioneer 10 project on March 31, 1997,
with the spacecraft having traveled a distance of some six billion
miles.
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