On Sept. 1, 1979, NASA's robotic space probe Pioneer 11 became the first spacecraft to fly by Saturn.
Pioneer 11 launched in 1973 on a mission to explore the Asteroid Belt, Jupiter and Saturn. It launched directly toward Jupiter, then used Jupiter's gravity to slingshot around the planet, make a sharp turn and start flying toward Saturn. Four years and nine months later, it finally made it to Saturn. During its closest approach, it was about 13,000 miles (2,100 kilometers) above the planet's cloud tops.
Because NASA's two Voyager probes were also on their way to Saturn at that point, they sent Pioneer 11 straight through Saturn's rings so it could determine whether it was safe for the Voyagers to do the same thing years down the road.
So Pioneer 11 pioneered the way through Saturn's outer rings, going where no spacecraft had gone before – and nearly colliding with a small moon along the way. Pioneer 11 actually discovered several moons, along with a new ring, and the first evidence of a magnetic field around Saturn.
Pioneer 11 launched in 1973 on a mission to explore the Asteroid Belt, Jupiter and Saturn. It launched directly toward Jupiter, then used Jupiter's gravity to slingshot around the planet, make a sharp turn and start flying toward Saturn. Four years and nine months later, it finally made it to Saturn. During its closest approach, it was about 13,000 miles (2,100 kilometers) above the planet's cloud tops.
Because NASA's two Voyager probes were also on their way to Saturn at that point, they sent Pioneer 11 straight through Saturn's rings so it could determine whether it was safe for the Voyagers to do the same thing years down the road.
So Pioneer 11 pioneered the way through Saturn's outer rings, going where no spacecraft had gone before – and nearly colliding with a small moon along the way. Pioneer 11 actually discovered several moons, along with a new ring, and the first evidence of a magnetic field around Saturn.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:04In 1979, NASA's robotic space probe Pioneer 11 became the first
00:08spacecraft to fly by Saturn. Pioneer 11 launched in 1973
00:12on a mission to explore the asteroid belt, Jupiter, and Saturn.
00:16It launched directly towards Jupiter, then used Jupiter's gravity to slingshot around the planet
00:20making a sharp turn and flying straight towards Saturn. Four years and
00:24nine months later, it finally arrived at the ringed planet. During its closest
00:28approach, it was about 13,000 miles above Saturn's cloud tops.
00:32Because NASA's two Voyager probes were also on their way to Saturn at that point,
00:36they sent Pioneer 11 straight through Saturn's ring so it could determine whether it was safe
00:40for the Voyagers to do the same thing years down the road.
00:44So Pioneer 11 pioneered the way through Saturn's outer rings, going where no spacecraft
00:48had gone before, and nearly colliding with a small moon along the way.
00:52Pioneer 11 actually discovered several moons of Saturn along with a new ring and the
00:56first evidence of a magnetic field around the planet. And that's what happened
01:00on this day in space.
01:04NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology