December 3, 2012 - Anniversary of First Close-ups of Jupiter

Aren’tnwe lucky to know so much about our universe, and to see so manynfabulous, breathtaking photos of galaxies, nebulae, stars, andnplanets? Can you imagine living long, long ago, when the nighttimenskies were filled with nothing but the moon, specks and smudges ofnlight, and wonder?

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nEvennJupiter, back then, would have seemed to be just a particularlynbright speck of light that “wandered” more than most well-behavednspecks of light. How many people who lived thousands of years agondared to dream that it was an entirely different world—much lessnthat more than a thousand Earths could fit inside that world?

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nOfncourse, by the early 1600s, when the telescope was first invented, wenbegan to learn the true nature of our little patch of the universe,nincluding our solar system and our largest planet, Jupiter.nTelescopes got better and better, other tools such as spectroscopesnwere invented, and eventually we began to send unmanned vehiclesnequipped with cameras out into space. n

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Image from Pioneer 10

nOnnthis date in 1973, our first close encounter with Jupiter occurred asnPioneer 10 passed within 81,000 miles of the huge planet’s cloudntops. During the entire fly-by (from November 26 to around Decembern11), more than 500 images were captured and transmitted back tonEarth. These images were much more detailed than anything we had beennable to see previously—although these days, of course, we have manynbetter photos from seven more close encounters with NASA spacecraft.

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Image from Cassini

nNotnonly were Pioneer 10’s images important, but the measurements made ofnJupiter’s magnetosphere, radiation belts, magnetic field, atmosphere,nand interior were very important to our understanding of Jupiter andnto the planning and building of future spacecraft.

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nDidnyou know…?

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Pioneern10 was launched in 1972 and was planned to operate for less than twonyears (21 months, to be exact). However, it operated and communicatednits findings and location with Earth for MORE THAN 30 YEARS!

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Whennwe last heard from the Pioneer 10 spacecraft, it was about 7 billionnmiles away from us. Now it is estimated to be about 10 billion milesnaway. It is hurtling toward the star Aldebaran, and ETA is 2 millionnyears from now. Give or take a decade.

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InnStar Trek V: the Final Frontier, Klingon Captain Klaa shoots Pioneer 10 for fun.

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Pioneern10 has a pictorial plaque that provides information about humans andnEarth, in case the spacecraft is ever intercepted by a more kindlynand curious alien than Captain Klaa. The plaque was designed by CarlnSagan and Frank Drake.

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Then“Pioneer Anomaly” puzzled scientists for years: both Pioneer 10nand 11 are traveling just a little bit slower than expected.nFinally, just this year, scientists figured out that heat flowingnthrough the spacecrafts’ power systems and instruments is pushingnback on the Pioneer spacecraft, slowing them down a bit.

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nAlsonon this date:

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