| |
| | NASA - PIONEER 10 SPACECRAFT SENDS LAST SIGNAL |
 | | 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. |
 | | 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. |
| www.nasa.gov /centers/ames/news/releases/2003/03_25HQ.html (813 words) |
|