Pioneer 6, 7, 8, and 9

*Pioneer 6*, 7, 8, and 9
	Artist's conception of the Pioneer 6–9 spacecraft.
Mission type	Interplanetary space
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1965-105A (Pioneer 6); 1966-075A (Pioneer 7); 1967-123A (Pioneer 8); 1968-100A (Pioneer 9);
Mission duration	Pioneer 6: 58 years, 1 month and 26 days (elapsed) ; Pioneer 7: 57 years, 5 months and 25 days (elapsed) ; Pioneer 8: 56 years, 1 month and 29 days (elapsed) ; Pioneer 9: 18 years, 1 month and 23 days (final)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	TRW
Launch mass	62.14 kg (Pioneer 6); 62.75 kg (Pioneer 7); 65.36 kg (Pioneer 8); 65.36 kg (Pioneer 9);
Power	79 W
Start of mission
Launch date	Pioneer 6: December 16, 1965, 07:31:21 UTC ; Pioneer 7: August 17, 1966, 15:20:17 UTC ; Pioneer 8: December 13, 1967, 14:08 UTC ; Pioneer 9: November 8, 1968, 09:46:29 UTC ;
Rocket	Delta-E
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, LC-17A
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Heliocentric
Perihelion altitude	between 0.75 to 1 AU
Aphelion altitude	between 0.99 to 1.2 AU
	Pioneer

Pioneer 6, 7, 8, and 9 were space probes in the Pioneer program, launched between 1965 and 1969. They were a series of solar-orbiting, spin-stabilized, solar cell- and battery-powered satellites designed to obtain measurements on a continuing basis of interplanetary phenomena from widely separated points in space. They were also known as Pioneer A, B, C, and D. The fifth (Pioneer E) was lost in a launch accident, and therefore did not receive a numerical designation.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.