My My...These Children of today! April of 1972 I was getting ready to come back to the world from that "Unpopular War" mention earlier..
James
James R. Reynolds
HP3000 Systems Administrator
Time/Life Customer Service
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A Positive Attitude Will Not Solve All of Your Problems, But
It will Annoy Enough People to Make It Worth The Effort.
-----Original Message-----
From: ed sharpe [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 5:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: Pioneer 10 Spacecraft Sends Last Signal to Earth
heh heh speak for your self! kiddo!
(the old man but not as old as Fred!)
----- Original Message -----
From: "James P. Keller" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 2:26 PM
Subject: [HP3000-L] OT: Pioneer 10 Spacecraft Sends Last Signal to Earth
> The Pioneer 10,spacecraft...30 years ago ... Hmmmm, we were all in
> first or second grade when this happened ... Jim
>
>
> >From ScienceDaily Magazine (http://www.sciencedaily.com).
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Source: NASA/Ames Research Center
> Date Posted: 2003-02-26
> Web
> Address: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030226073614.htm
>
> PIONEER 10 SPACECRAFT SENDS LAST SIGNAL TO EARTH
> After more than 30 years, it appears the venerable Pioneer 10
> spacecraft has sent its last signal to Earth. Pioneer's last, very
> weak signal was received on Jan. 22, 2003.
>
> NASA engineers report Pioneer 10's radioisotope power source has
> decayed, and it may not have enough power to send additional
> transmissions to Earth. NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) did not detect
> a signal during the last contact attempt Feb. 7, 2003. The previous
> three contacts, including the Jan. 22 signal, were very faint with no
> telemetry received. The last time a Pioneer 10 contact returned
> telemetry data was April 27, 2002. NASA has no additional contact
> attempts planned for Pioneer 10.
>
> "Pioneer 10 was a pioneer in the true sense of the word. After it
> passed Mars on its long journey into deep space, it was venturing into
> places where nothing built by humanity had ever gone before," said Dr.
> Colleen Hartman, director of NASA's Solar System Exploration Division,
> NASA Headquarters, Washington. "It ranks among the most historic as
> well as the most scientifically rich exploration missions ever
> undertaken," she said.
>
> "Originally designed for a 21-month mission, Pioneer 10 lasted more
>
> than 30 years. It was a workhorse that far exceeded its warranty, and
> I guess you could say we got our money's worth," said Pioneer 10
> Project Manager, Dr. Larry Lasher.
>
> Pioneer 10 was built by TRW Inc., Redondo Beach, Calif., and was
> launched March 2, 1972, on a three-stage Atlas-Centaur rocket. Pioneer
> 10 reached a speed of 32,400 mph needed for the flight to Jupiter,
> making it the fastest human-made object to leave the Earth; fast
> enough to pass the moon in 11 hours and to cross Mars' orbit, about 50
> million miles away, in just 12 weeks.
>
> On July 15, 1972, Pioneer 10 entered the asteroid belt, a doughnut-
> shaped area that measures some 175 million miles wide and 50 million
> miles thick. The material in the belt travels at speeds up to 45,000
> mph and ranges in size from dust particles to rock chunks
>
> as big as Alaska. Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to pass through
> the asteroid belt, considered a spectacular achievement, and then
> headed toward Jupiter. Accelerating to a speed of 82,000 mph, Pioneer
> 10 passed by Jupiter on December 3, 1973.
>
> The spacecraft was the first to make direct observations and obtain
>
> close-up images of Jupiter. Pioneer also charted the gas giant's
> intense radiation belts, located the planet's magnetic field, and
> established Jupiter is predominantly a liquid planet. In 1983, Pioneer
> 10 became the first human-made object to pass the orbit of Pluto, the
> most distant planet from the Sun.
>
> Following its encounter with Jupiter, Pioneer 10 explored the outer
>
> regions of the solar system, studying energetic particles from the Sun
> (solar wind), and cosmic rays entering our portion of the Milky
>
> Way. The spacecraft continued to make valuable scientific
> investigations in the outer regions of the solar system until its
> science mission ended March 31, 1997.
>
> Since that time, Pioneer 10's weak signal has been tracked by the DSN
> as part of a new advanced-concept study of communication technology in
> support of NASA's future Interstellar Probe mission. At last contact,
> Pioneer 10 was 7.6 billion miles from Earth, or 82
>
> times the nominal distance between the Sun and the Earth. At that
> distance, it takes more than 11 hours and 20 minutes for the radio
> signal, traveling at the speed of light, to reach the Earth.
>
> "From Ames Research Center and the Pioneer Project, we send our thanks
> to the many people at the Deep Space Network (DSN) and the Jet
> Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who made it possible to hear the
> spacecraft signal for this long," said Pioneer 10 Flight Director
> David Lozier.
>
> Pioneer 10 explored Jupiter, traveled twice as far as the most distant
> planet in our solar system, and as Earth's first emissary into space,
> is carrying a gold plaque that describes what we look like, where we
> are, and the date when the mission began. Pioneer 10
>
> will continue to coast silently as a ghost ship into interstellar
> space, heading generally for the red star Aldebaran, which forms the
> eye of the constellation Taurus (The Bull). Aldebaran is about 68
> light-years away. It will take Pioneer 10 more than two million years
> to reach it. Its sister ship, Pioneer 11, ended its mission September
> 30, 1995, when the last transmission from the spacecraft was received.
>
> --
> James P. Keller,
> Interex, Director, IT
> [log in to unmask]
> 408.743.4610
>
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