How far out is Pioneer 10?

Pioneer 10, the next most distant, is about 15.4 billion kilometers (9.6 billion miles) away from the sun on the opposite side of the solar system.

How far is Pioneer 10 now 2021?

The distance of Pioneer 10 from Earth is currently 19,764,589,239 kilometers, equivalent to 132.118119 Astronomical Units.

How far from Earth is Pioneer 10 at last contact?

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.

Where is Pioneer 10 spacecraft now?

In 2003, 7.6 billion miles away from Earth, Pioneer 10 sent its last message home. Since then, the spacecraft has been sailing into the unknown alone.

When did Pioneer 10 send its last signal?

Pioneer 10 sent its last signal to Earth in January 2003 from a distance of 7.6 billion miles (12.23 billion kilometers). Its accomplishments are unmatched by any other robotic spacecraft to date. The spacecraft's mass was 569 pounds (258 kilograms).

The Extraordinary Journey of NASA's Pioneer 10

Can we still communicate with Pioneer 10?

In fact, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 sent their last transmissions in 2003 and 1995, respectively. Though these craft can no longer transmit signals to Earth, researchers have figured out which stars the vehicles will pass long after they cease to be operational.

Has Pioneer 10 reached interstellar space?

In December 2018, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft reached interstellar space, following the example of its sister, Voyager 1. Right now, only five spacecraft have been launched capable of making such a grand exit, including the Voyagers. The remaining three are Pioneers 10 and 11, and New Horizons.

Can Voyager 1 come back?

Even if science data won't likely be collected after 2025, engineering data could continue to be returned for several more years. The two Voyager spacecraft could remain in the range of the Deep Space Network through about 2036, depending on how much power the spacecraft still have to transmit a signal back to Earth.

Did Pioneer 10 leave the solar system?

On June 13, 1983, the NASA spacecraft left the solar system. NASA officially ended the Pioneer 10 project on March 31, 1997, with the spacecraft having traveled a distance of some six billion miles.

How long did it take Pioneer 10 to reach Jupiter?

The first spacecraft to ever cross the gulf from the Earth to Jupiter was NASA's Pioneer 10. It launched on March 3, 1972 and reached on December 3, 1973. That's a total of 640 days of flight time.

When did Pioneer 10 reach Jupiter?

6, 1973). Command-and-return time was up to 92 minutes by this time. Pioneer 10's closest approach to Jupiter was at 02:26 UT Dec. 4, 1973, when the spacecraft raced by the planet at a range of 81,000 miles (130,354 kilometers) at a velocity of approximately 78,000 miles per hour (126,000 kilometers/hour).

Has Pioneer 11 left the solar system?

Analysis of data suggested that the planet was primarily made of liquid hydrogen. After leaving Saturn, Pioneer 11 headed out of the solar system in a direction opposite to that of Pioneer 10, toward the center of the galaxy in the general direction of Sagittarius.

Is Pioneer further than Voyager?

Voyager 1 is the most distant spacecraft, about 17.5 billion kilometers (10.9 billion miles) away from the sun at a northward angle. Pioneer 10, the next most distant, is about 15.4 billion kilometers (9.6 billion miles) away from the sun on the opposite side of the solar system.

How far is Voyager 1 right now?

Voyager 1's interstellar adventures

As of January 2022, Voyager 1 is roughly 156 AU from Earth — approximately 14.5 billion miles (23.3 billion km). You can keep tabs on the probe's current distance on this NASA website (opens in new tab).

Will Voyager 1 ever leave the Milky Way?

It is doubtful that the spacecraft will ever be able to leave the Milky Way, as they would have to attain a velocity of 1000 kilometers/second, and unless they get a huge, huge, huge velocity boost from something unexpected, they will probably end up being in the Milky Way's rotation forever.

Will Voyager reach Alpha Centauri?

Neither Voyager is aimed toward Alpha Centauri, but if one of them were – assuming it maintained its current rate of speed – it would take tens of thousands of years to get to get there. Eventually, the Voyagers will pass other stars.

Will Voyager ever hit anything?

The probability of Voyager colliding with any matter any time soon is unknown, but likely small. We have no way of detecting small outer solar system objects, because they are small and far away.

Has Voyager 1 left the Kuiper Belt?

That repair didn't occur until December 1993. By then, Voyager 1 was exiting the Kuiper Belt near 55 AU, and Voyager 2 was near 42 AU.

What is the farthest man made object from Earth?

The most distant artificial object is the spacecraft Voyager 1, which – in November 2021 – is nearly 14 1/2 billion miles (23 billion km) from Earth. Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched 16 days apart in 1977.

Has Voyager 1 left the solar system?

One year ago, NASA's Voyager 2 probe became just the second human-made object in history to exit the solar system and officially enter interstellar space. Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977—16 days before its twin, Voyager 1, which exited the solar system's northern hemisphere in 2012 .

How far away is Voyager 2?

Voyager 2 has been traveling through space for 43 years, and is now more than 11 billion miles from Earth.

Is Voyager 2 still transmitting?

Voyager 2 remains in contact with Earth through the NASA Deep Space Network. In 2020, maintenance to the Deep Space Network cut outbound contact with the probe for eight months.