STANFORD UNIVERSITY
EE 350 RADIOSCIENCE SEMINAR
Professor Antony Fraser-Smith
Fall 2000-2001
Date: Wednesday, April 11, 2001
Time: 4:15-5:30 PM; Refreshments at 4:00 PM
Location: Bldg. 200, Rm. 34
THE HISTORY OF PIONEER 10/11 AND THE SEARCH FOR THE HELIOSPHERE
Dr. Lawrence Lasher
NASA Ames Research Center
Abstract
Pioneer 10 was launched by NASA some 29 years ago to investigate the planet
Jupiter. The significance of Pioneer 10 - followed later by Pioneer 11 - is
that these were the first spacecraft to visit Jupiter, Saturn, and leave the
solar system. One final objective left for Pioneer 10 is to find the
heliospheric boundary of interstellar space. The latest contact with Pioneer
10 was in August of last year and concerted effort will be made in April and
May to rouse a downlink signal with an energetic uplink signal.