What is Pioneer 10?

Pioneer 10 was launched on February 28, 1972, and is still operating far away, and will continue to operate for nearly 18 years thereafter. Pioneer 10's original mission was to probe Jupiter and its vicinity. On December 2, 1973, 21 months after launch, it passed Jupiter, providing humanity with its first close-up view of the giant planet. Pioneer 10 became the first aircraft to fly over Jupiter in 1973. It then became the first probe to study Saturn in 1979. Pioneer 10 is also used to test the survival rate through the asteroid belt and Jupiter's giant magnetic field. Accelerating by Jupiter's gravitational field, it continued to move into the outer solar system, and by mid-June 1983, it passed through the orbit of Neptune. Because Pluto was not farther from the sun than Neptune at the time, Pioneer 10 had traveled outside the planetary system. Pioneer 10 left the solar system in the direction of Taurus. Without accident, it will be close to Bi Suwu after 2 million years.

Pioneer 10

Many years have passed, and Pioneer 10 is continuing its long journey, currently far more than 4.2 billion miles from the sun. The earth itself is only 93 million miles from the sun, and this distance is what is known as an "astronomical unit" (AU). In other words, Pioneer 10 is now about 45AU from the sun. The distance of Pluto from the Sun at its far point in orbit is 47AU. But it is now nearing its orbit, and by the 21st century it will not be far away. Pioneer 10 is still transmitting radio waves from this distant distance, and it is still receiving on the earth. These waves travel at the speed of light and it will take 6.25 hours to reach Earth.

The Pioneer Program was officially terminated on March 31, 1997, although the United States has continued to contact it from time to time. When it leaves the solar system, it will eject a 6 * 9-inch gold plaque attached to the main frame of the aircraft. Of course, the Pioneer 10 still didn't fly out

According to NASA on February 25: Pioneer 10 lost contact with Earth after the last very weak signal came on January 23, 2003!

NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) engineers said: The control station was originally expected to receive a signal from Pioneer 10 on February 7, but in the end it was silent, so it is most likely due to Pioneer 10 The power supply system made of radioisotopes has gradually become ineffective due to being too old, and can no longer continue to supply the power required for signal transmission. Not only that, the original DSN engineers could calculate the position and distance of Pioneer 10 according to the time required for the signal to go back and forth, but since the signal on April 27, 2002, the signal strength was so weak that it could not be distinguished, so it was impossible to measure distance. However, NASA has no special plans to actively contact Pioneer 10 again.

Pioneer 10, who left the solar system in 1983, is currently being dragged back into the sun by an unknown force. Pioneer X took the first close-up pictures of Jupiter before leaving the solar system. As the spacecraft gradually entered deep space, the unknown force showed no sign of abating. Scientists are pondering the findings or suggesting the possibility of a new natural force.

Dr. Philip Laing, a research team member who is tracking the spaceship, said: "We have studied every possible mechanism and theory, but none of them can reasonably explain this phenomenon. If this drag The effect is real, then it will have a major impact on cosmology and spacecraft navigation, "said California Aerospace's Liang.

NASA's "Pioneer 10" was launched on March 2, 1972, accompanied by its twin spacecraft "Pioneer 11". Both sent a large number of detailed pictures of Jupiter and Saturn, completely changing astronomy. In June 1983, Pioneer 10 passed Pluto, the farthest galaxy in the solar system.

Both probes are currently moving at 27,000 miles per hour, and they may take millions of years to meet the next star. Scientists are continuously monitoring the signals of Pioneer 10, which is currently billions of miles from Earth.

Research published in the industry-leading physics journal Physics Review shows that the speed of movement of the two detectors is changing at a rate of 6 miles per hour per century-an effect that is almost impossible to detect, and it is roughly more effective than gravity Weak 10 billion times. ^[1]