50 years ago, Pioneer 11 set sail for the outer solar system

Today, for Pioneer 11, that frontier resides an estimated 10.2 billion miles (16.4 billion km) from Earth — or about 110 astronomical units (AU; 1 AU is equal to the average Earth-Sun distance).

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Pioneer 11

Pioneer 11 detected Saturn''s bow shock on Aug. 31, 1979, about 932,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) out from the planet, thus providing the first conclusive evidence of the existence of

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Pioneer 10 and 11 and Voyager I and II Spacecraft Flight Paths

Today, for Pioneer 11, that frontier resides an estimated 10.2 billion miles (16.4 billion km) from Earth — or about 110 astronomical units (AU; 1 AU is equal to the average Earth-Sun distance).

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“The Little Spacecraft That Could”: Remembering Pioneer 11, 50

Five days after launch, trajectory specialists slightly nudged the spacecraft''s course to aim its passage just to the “right” of Jupiter, as seen from Earth, some 12,400 miles (20,000 kilometers)

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Pioneer 10/11

Having gone further into space than any other object sent from Earth, Pioneer''s last weak signal was received on January 22, 2003, from approximately 12.2 billion kilometers (7.6 billion miles) from Earth.

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Pioneer 10 and 11 and Voyager I and II Spacecraft Flight Paths

If Pioneer 11 had been destroyed because of unexpected dust in its path then the Voyagers would have been diverted. Luckily all went well and Pioneer 11 was able to photograph Jupiter''s Great Red Spot

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Pioneer Spacecraft''s Journey: Tracking Its Distance From Earth

At their current distances, the Pioneers are roughly 142 AU (Pioneer 10) and 124 AU (Pioneer 11) from Earth. To put this in perspective, Neptune, the most distant planet in our solar

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How Far Away Is Pioneer 11 from Earth?

How Far Away Is Pioneer 11 from Earth? The distance of Pioneer 11 from Earth is currently 17,539,461,166.15 Kilometers (10,900,845,970.26 Miles), equivalent to 117.2440562428

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Pioneer 11

As of June 24, 2024, Pioneer 11 is estimated to be 113.121 AU (16.9227 × 109 km; 10.5153 × 109 mi) from the Earth and 114.089 AU (17.0675 billion km; 10.6052 billion mi) from the Sun.

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Pioneer 11

By Nov. 5, 2017, Pioneer 11 was estimated to be about 97.590 AU (9.1 billion miles or 14.599 billion kilometers) from Earth. Both Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 had plaques etched in gold.

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Pioneer 11

OverviewCurrent statusMission backgroundMission profilePioneer anomalyPioneer plaqueCommemorationSee also

Due to power constraints and the vast distance to the probe, the last routine contact with the spacecraft was on September 30, 1995, and the last good engineering data was received on November 24, 1995. As of June 24, 2024, Pioneer 11 is estimated to be 113.121 AU (16.9227×10 km; 10.5153×10 mi) from the Earth and 114.089 AU (17.0675 billion km; 10.6052 billion mi) from the Sun. It was traveling at 11.155 km/s (40,160 km/h; 24,950 mph) relative to the Sun and traveling outward at about 2.35 AU per year.

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Pioneer 10 & 11

In September 1995, Pioneer 11 was at a distance of 6.5 billion kilometers from Earth. At that distance, it takes over 6 hours for the radio signal (which is traveling at the speed of light) to reach Earth.

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