 A family portrait showing (from left to right) Pioneers 6-9, 10 and 11 and the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe series | |
| Program overview | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Organization | |
| Purpose | Lunar and interplanetary exploration |
| Status | Completed |
| Program history | |
| Duration |
|
| First flight | Pioneer 0 August 17, 1958 |
| Last flight | Pioneer Venus August 1978 |
| Successes | 9 |
| Failures | 10 |
| Partial failures | 1 |
| Launch site(s) | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
| Vehicle information | |
| Launch vehicle(s) | |
The Pioneer programs were two series of United States lunar and planetary space probes exploration. The first program, which ran from 1958 to 1960, unsuccessfully attempted to send spacecraft to orbit the Moon, successfully sent one spacecraft to fly by the Moon, and successfully sent one spacecraft to investigate interplanetary space between the orbits of Earth and Venus. The second program, which ran from 1965 to 1992, sent four spacecraft to measure interplanetary space weather, two to explore Jupiter and Saturn, and two to explore Venus. The two outer planet probes, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, became the first two of five artificial objects to achieve the escape velocity that will allow them to leave the Solar System, and carried a golden plaque each depicting a man and a woman and information about the origin and the creators of the probes, in case any extraterrestrials find them someday.