Launch of Pioneer 11

Pioneer 11 was a robotic space probe launched by NASA in April 1973, as a follow-up to Pioneer 10, with the goal of studying Jupiter and then going on to Saturn. It flew past Jupiter in December 1974, passing closer to the planet than its predecessor and returning detailed images and measurements of its radiation belts and magnetic field. Using Jupiter's gravity, the probe was directed across the solar system to Saturn, which it reached in September 1979, becoming the first spacecraft to visit that planet. Pioneer 11 discovered a new ring and a new moon, and took data that helped plan the later Voyager missions. Contact with the probe was lost in 1995, and it is now heading out of the solar system. Like Pioneer 10, it carries a plaque with a message from humankind.

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