Pioneer 9 Mission

Mission Overview
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The Pioneer missions set the stage for U.S. space exploration. Pioneer 1 was the first
manmade object to escape the gravitation field of the Earth. Later Pioneer 4 was the
first spacecraft to fly to the moon, Pioneer 10 was the first to Jupiter, Pioneer 11
was the first to Saturn and Pioneer 12 was the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit another
planet, Venus. Pioneers 6, 7, 8 and 9 were first solar monitoring networks. Both
Pioneer 10 and 11 left the solar system. Originally designed to operate for at least 
6 months, most Pioneers lasted for decades. The following table summarizes the Pioneer
spacecraft and scientific objectives of the Pioneer missions.

Name      Launch      Mission       Status (as of 1998)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pioneer 1 1958-10-11    Moon        Reached altitude of 72765 miles
Pioneer 2 1958-11-08    Moon        Reached altitude of 963 miles
Pioneer 3 1958-12-02    Moon        Reached altitude of 63580 miles
Pioneer 4 1959-03-03    Moon        Passed by moon into solar orbit
Pioneer 5 1960-03-11  Solar Orbit   Entered solar orbit
Pioneer 6 1965-12-16  Solar Orbit   Contacted in 2000; Still believed to be operating 
Pioneer 7 1966-08-17  Solar Orbit   Tracked in 1995; Still believed to be operating
Pioneer 8 1967-12-13  Solar Orbit   Contacted in 1996; Still believed to be operating
Pioneer 9 1967-11-08  Solar Orbit   Signal lost in 1983
Pioneer E 1969-08-07  Solar Orbit   Launch failure
Pioneer10 1972-03-02   Jupiter      Communication terminated 1998
Pioneer11 1973-04-05 Jupiter/Saturn Communication terminated 1997
Pioneer12 1978-05-20    Venus       Entered Venus atmos. 1992-10-08

Pioneer 9, also known as Pioneer D, was launched on 08 November 1968 into a
heliocentric orbit to study interplanetary space with a primary focus of collecting
data on magnetic fields, plasma, and cosmic rays. NASA maintained contact with
spacecraft until 19 May 1983. On 3 March 1987, mission controllers used equipment of
the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) to contact Pioneer 9 but were
unsuccessful.  NASA declared the mission inactive at that time.

References
==========
Siddiqi, A.A., Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes
1958-2000, Monographs in Aerospace History No. 24, NASA, SP-2002-4524, Washington,
D.C, 2002.