Pioneer 11

Launch data: Designation 06421 / 73019A Launch date 06 April 1973 - 02:11 UT Launch site CC, LC-36B Launch vehicle Atlas-SLV3D Centaur-D1A (5011D/AC-30) Mission Interplanetary Saturn flyby Heliocentric (Solar) orbit Perihelion x Aphelion  1.00 x 6.012 AU Eccentricity  0.715 Inclination  1.31? deg Period  2398 days Interstellar orbit Perihelion x Aphelion  0.98? x ~ Eccentricity  1.21 Inclination  1.31? Period   -

Specifications: Prime contractor  TRW Operator  NASA Mass at launch   kg Dry Mass   kg Dimension  1.45 long - 2.75 dia Basic shape  Hexagon + dish Solar array   Stabilization   Lifetime  Indefinite

Pioneer 10 and 11's famed Plaque features a design engraved into a gold-anodized aluminum plate, 152 by 229 millimeters (6 by 9 inches), attached to the spacecrafts' antenna support struts to help shield it from erosion by interstellar dust.

Mission Result:

• Passed 41850 km below Jupiter on 1974 Dec 03.224 and exceeded solar escape velocity.
• Passed 20200 km from Saturn's cloud tops (just outside rings) on 1979 Sept 01.69
• Flyby of Saturn moons Janus at 2500 km and Mimas at 103000 km on Sept 01, 1979 (14:52 and 16:20 UT).
• Crossed orbit of Neptune on 1990 Feb 23 to become 4th spacecraft to leave solar system, heading towards Galactic centre at 2.5 AU/year; solar inclination 17.4°.
• End of 1995 at 44.7 AU. Routine tracking and project data processing operations were terminated on March 31, 1997 for budget reasons.
• The Mission of Pioneer 11 has ended. Its RTG power source is exhausted. The last communication from Pioneer 11 was received in November 1995, shortly before the Earth's motion carried it out of view of the spacecraft antenna.
• On Aug 2006 Pioneer 11 is at 70.4 AU.
• The spacecraft is headed toward the constellation of Aquila (The Eagle), Northwest of the constellation of Sagittarius. Pioneer 11 may pass near one of the stars in the constellation in about 4 million years.