back to article Pioneer 10 turns 50: Remembering humankind's first jaunt to Jupiter

We might be nearing the 50th anniversary of the last Apollo Moon landing, but spare a thought for NASA's Pioneer missions. Pioneer 10, the first mission to the outer planets, was launched 50 years ago this month. It is difficult to grasp the sheer number of unknowns facing scientists and engineers with the Pioneer 10 and 11 …

  1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Linux

    "more than 2 million years to reach it."

    Just about time for another bath, then.

    Nearest thing to a rubber duck icon -->

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "more than 2 million years to reach it."

      Hope Aldebaran doesn't blow up before....

    2. HammerOn1024

      Re: "more than 2 million years to reach it."

      And yet, the bridge crew is still uncomfortable with you in that bath...

      So, are you still having those disconcerting feelings that something is missing when you look in the rear view mirror?

  2. Paul Crawford Silver badge
    Pint

    A well deserved beer for all of those involved in the design, operations, and analysis of the data!

    It is amazing what we as a species can do (when not trying to kill each other over pointless details).

    1. james 68
      Black Helicopters

      Agreed but.... Don't forget however that most of the technology used came directly from trying to find faster ways to kill more people.

      1. ThatOne Silver badge
        Unhappy

        True, but that's a motivation issue. Nothing motivates humans like killing their neighbors and claiming their possessions. That, added to the thrill of "kill or being killed", and you have the receipt for bringing the best out of anyone. It has always been, and will unfortunately remain so for hundreds of thousands of years, until the species evolves from a selfish hunter-gatherer to an entity with more "civilized" instincts and reflexes. Or goes extinct.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        What? Curie, Marconi, Goddard, Fermi, etc. were looking for ways to kill more people? War caused by the classic mad dictator could have accelerated the implementation of those technologies - but none of them was developed directly to kill people.

        1. ThatOne Silver badge
          Facepalm

          Aw, come on, I didn't say everything is nothing but about homicide!

          I realize I might need to have a lawyer formulate my posts.

        2. james 68

          Did you miss the part where this is a story about space flight and bit rockets etc?

  3. Valarian

    "more than 2 million years to reach it."

    By which time it will have accumulated a dense irregular cigar-shaped coating of space dust, micrometeoroids, and other space-borne ephemera, and will startle the sentients living on Aldebaran IV as it drifts through the system. They'll fail to recognise it as an artificial object and christen it "[thing][fast][beyond][silent][temporary]", roughly translated as "scout".

    1. Down not across

      Re: "more than 2 million years to reach it."

      Perhaps it will become P'eer.

  4. Joe W Silver badge
    Pint

    Bloody well done!

    Space exploration never ceases to excite me!

    For German speakers: check out the podcast "Sternengeschichten".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Re: Bloody well done!

      Slightly off topic (only slightly), but you reminded me of 'Space Night' which used to broadcast on the German ARD channel (and a couple of others, if I remember) on analogue satellite back in the 80s/90s.

      I used to go to sleep most nights watching (and listening) to that. It was just footage from various Earth-orbiting craft accompanied by mainly classical music.

      Real chill-out stuff. I was really disappointed when Sky went digital and it wasn't available anymore.

      1. ravenviz Silver badge

        Re: Bloody well done!

        In the 90’s I used to leave a NASA TV stream running (basically as a nice picture frame) on my home dial up connection that work paid for, until one of the accountants asked me why my monthly phone bill had gone up to £900 a month! I thought I’d stop after that!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Space Night

        Space Night (Earth Views) is still around, sometimes for free, if you know where to look.

        See e.g.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Night

        Sprechen sie deutsch?

        https://www.br.de/br-fernsehen/sendungen/spacenight/index.html

  5. Gene Cash Silver badge

    Good book

    I just finished "Rise of the Rocket Girls" which is about the "computers" (the women that did all the data reduction and computation) at JPL, starting in 1939 and ending in 2014 with Susan Finley who is still there after 60+ years.

    It's not another "ahmigawd teh WOMEN working on ROCKETS" book - it simply happens to be about a group of people that happen to be all female and doesn't beat any drums or grind any axes.

    It's incredibly well-researched. I wish I could read all the amazing articles, papers, and books it quotes in the bibliography.

    There was a Burroughs E101 computer programmed by inserting needles in a pinboard. I'd never heard of it.

    However, the last chapter is kind of sad, as the people you watched grow up, get old and retire after 40 or 50 years at the lab.

    I think anyone that found this article interesting should read it.

  6. Greybearded old scrote
    Happy

    That other part

    Not even a sidebar on the plaque? OK, not the point of the mission and a long shot at best, but a nice touch.

    One of Carl Sagan's books had a very entertaining chapter on the reactions of those easily shocked.

    Great memories.

    1. ThatOne Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: That other part

      > Not even a sidebar on the plaque?

      Oh, you mean the menu?

      (Seriously, what were the people shocked about? That the Male had male parts and the Female naked breasts? Nothing a cold shower and 50 "Our father" couldn't cure...)

      1. Greybearded old scrote

        Re: That other part

        Many people are still shocked by nudity, maybe even more now than 50 years ago. The pendulum has swung back the other way.

        One woman complained about the female's missing genitals, good for her.

        1. ravenviz Silver badge

          Re: That other part

          ‘Lady parts’ were seemingly terra incognita for the program design patriarchy!

      2. Greybearded old scrote
        Joke

        Re: That other part

        Maybe 50 Hail Marys instead.

    2. A. Coatsworth Silver badge
      Unhappy

      Re: That other part

      There was a Kickstarter in 2017 that offered replicas of the plaque, engraved by hand by the artist tat created the originals... and I am only finding this now?

      Goddammit!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That other part

        Take a look on Ebay and Etsy - there are many replicas for sale.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That other part

      With all the snowflakes around it's not politically correct even to mention it. I mean, come on, a man and a woman? Where are the other n+ genders?

      BTW, when are they going to 'correct' the Genesis?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That other part

        And their computers ran on binary data. That's actual violence, you know.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: That other part

          That's why they are pushing so hard for quantum computing! No more binary!

  7. Tubz Silver badge

    Hats off to the teams that built them, old tech now, but shows how reliable it was.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nothing there....

    Shame it didn't find anything.

  9. BlueHoya

    Pioneer 10 - An Underappreciated But Unforgotten Gem

    Pioneer 10 played such an important role in helping to define NASA's current day deep space exploration program. It doesn't receive the credit it (or Pioneer 11) are worthy of. If anyone is interested, a watch that pays tribute to this remarkable space probe and all of its accomplishments is being produced.

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