, typical of the earliest in the Pioneer series, from 1958.]]
The earliest missions were attempts achieve Earth Escape Velocity , simply to show it was feasible and study the Moon . This included the first launch by NASA which was formed from the old NACA . These missions were carried out by the US Air Force and Army .
Most missions here are listed with their most recognised name, and alternate names after in brackets.
- Able Space Probes
- --- Pioneer 0 (Thor-Able 1, Pioneer) - Lunar orbiter, destroyed in launcher failure August 1958
- --- Pioneer 1 (Thor-Able 2, Pioneer I) - Lunar orbiter, missed Moon due to launcher failure October 1958
- --- Pioneer 2 (Thor-Able 3, Pioneer II) - Lunar orbiter, destroyed in launcher failure November 1958
- --- Pioneer 3 - Lunar flyby, missed Moon due to launcher failure December 1958
- --- Pioneer 4 - Lunar flyby, achieved Earth Escape Velocity , launched March 1959
- --- Pioneer P-1 (Atlas-Able 4A, Pioneer W), probe lost September 1959
- --- Pioneer P-3 (Atlas-Able 4, Atlas-Able 4B, Pioneer X) - Lunar probe, lost in launcher failure December 1959
- --- Pioneer 5 (Pioneer P-2, Atlas-Able 6, Pioneer V) - interplanetary space between Earth and Venus , launched March 1960
- --- Pioneer P-30 (Atlas-Able 5A, Pioneer Y) - Lunar probe, failed to achieve lunar obit September 1960
- --- Pioneer P-31 (Atlas-Able 5B, Pioneer Z) - Lunar probe, lost in upper stage failure December 1960
, undergoing construction in 1971. Pioneer 10 and 11 are the most famous probes in the Pioneer Program , the first probes to visit the Outer Planets , and the first to go beyond the orbit of Pluto .]].]]
Five years after the early Able space probe missions ended, NASA Ames Research Center used the Pioneer name for a new series of missions, initially aimed at the inner solar system, before the bold flyby missions to Jupiter and Saturn . While successful, the missions returned much poorer images than the Voyagers five years later. In 1978, the end of the program saw a return to the inner solar system, with the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe , this time using orbital insertion rather than flyby missions.
The new missions were numbered from Pioneer 6.
Alternate names in brackets.
- Pioneer 6, 7, 8 And 9 - interplanetary space "weather network"
- ---Pioneer 6 (Pioneer A) - launched December 1965
- ---Pioneer 7 (Pioneer B) - launched August 1966
- ---Pioneer 8 (Pioneer C) - launched December 1967
- ---Pioneer 9 (Pioneer D) - launched November 1968
- ---Pioneer E - lost in launcher failure August 1969
- Outer Solar System Missions
- --- Pioneer 10 (Pioneer F) - Jupiter , Interstellar Space , launched March 1972
- --- Pioneer 11 (Pioneer G) - Jupiter , Saturn , Interstellar Space , launched April 1973
- --- Pioneer H - identical to Pioneers 10 and 11, but never launched
- Pioneer Venus Project
- --- Pioneer Venus Orbiter (Pioneer Venus 1, Pioneer 12) - the of the Pioneer Venus project, launched December 1978
- --- Pioneer Venus Multiprobe (Pioneer Venus 2, Pioneer 13) - the of the Pioneer Venus project, launched August 1978
--Pioneer Venus Probe Bus - transport vehicle and upper atmosphere probe
--Pioneer Venus Large Probe - 300 kg parachuted probe
--Pioneer Venus North Probe - 75 kg parachuted probe
--Pioneer Venus Night Probe - 75 kg parachuted probe
--Pioneer Venus Day Probe - 75 kg parachuted probe
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