Guide to the Pioneer Project Collection, 1952-1996
Guide prepared by Leilani Marshall
NASA Ames History Archives
NASA Ames Research Center
Mail Stop 207-1
Moffett Field, California 94035
Phone: (650) 604-1032
Email: ARC-DL-archives@mail.nasa.gov
URL: http://history.arc.nasa.gov
Guide to the Pioneer Project Collection,
1952-1996
NASA Ames History Archives
NASA Ames Research Center
Contact Information:
- NASA Ames History Archives
- NASA Ames Research Center
- Mail Stop 207-1
- Moffett Field, CA 94035
- Phone: (650) 604-1032
- Email: ARC-DL-archives@mail.nasa.gov
- URL: http://history.arc.nasa.gov
- Guide prepared and encoded by:
- Leilani Marshall
- Date Completed:
- November 2006
Descriptive Summary
Title: Pioneer Project Collection
Date (inclusive): 1952-1996
Date (bulk): 1970-1979
Collection Number: AFS8100.15A
Creator:
Ames Research Center
Extent:
Number of containers: 24 filing cabinets
Volume: approximately 200 cubic feet
Repository:
Ames Research Center,
Ames History Archives
Moffett Field, California 94035
Abstract: The NASA Pioneer Program ultimately sent into outer space
eight craft to explore the nearby and far away reaches of the solar system. This
collection is made up of records maintained by the Pioneer Program Management
Office, which was located at the NASA Ames Research Center. Materials in the
collection include contractor records, proposals, reviews, reports, drawings,
specifications, and correspondence related to the construction and design of the
Pioneer 10, 11 and 12 spacecraft.
Language:
English
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright does not apply to United States government records. For non-government
material, researcher must contact the original creator.
Preferred Citation
NASA Ames History Archives, NASA Ames Research Center. Moffett Field, California. AFS8100.15A, Pioneer Project Collection
1952-1996, 1970-1979,
[Container number] : [Folder number]. [Identification of item]. [Date, if available].
Acquisition Information
Materials transferred to the History Archives by the Pioneer Program Management Office
in October 2005.
Administrative History
Launched on 2 March 1972, Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to travel through the
Asteroid belt, and the first spacecraft to make direct observations and obtain
close-up images of Jupiter. Famed as the most remote object ever made by man through
most of its mission, Pioneer 10 is now over 8 billion miles away.
Pioneer 10 made its closest encounter to Jupiter some thirty years ago on 3 December
1973, passing within 81,000 miles of the cloudtops. This historic event marked
humans' first approach to Jupiter and opened the way for exploration of the outer
solar system: for Voyager to tour the outer planets, for Ulysses to break out of the
ecliptic, for Galileo to investigate Jupiter and its satellites, and for Cassini to
go to Saturn and probe Titan. During its Jupiter encounter, Pioneer 10 imaged the
planet and its moons, and took measurements of Jupiter's magnetosphere, radiation
belts, magnetic field, atmosphere, and interior. These measurements of the intense
radiation environment near Jupiter were crucial in designing the Voyager and Galileo
spacecraft.
Pioneer 10 made valuable scientific investigations in the outer regions of our solar
system until the end of its science mission on 31 March 1997. The Pioneer 10 weak
signal continued to be tracked by the DSN as part of an advanced concept study of
communication technology in support of NASA's future interstellar probe mission. The
power source on Pioneer 10 finally degraded to the point where the signal to Earth
dropped below the threshold for detection in its latest contact attempt on 7
February 2003. Pioneer 10 will continue to coast silently as a ghost ship through
deep space into interstellar space, heading generally for the red star Aldebaran,
which forms the eye of Taurus (the constellation The Bull). Aldebaran is about 68
light years away and it will take Pioneer over 2 million years to reach it.
Launched on 5 April 1973, Pioneer 11 followed its sister ship to Jupiter (1974), made
the first direct observations of Saturn (1979) and studied energetic particles in
the outer heliosphere. The Pioneer 11 Mission ended on 30 September 1995, when the
last transmission from the spacecraft was received. There have been no
communications with Pioneer 11 since. The Earth's motion has carried it out of the
view of the spacecraft antenna. The spacecraft cannot be maneuvered to point back at
the Earth. It is not known whether the spacecraft is still transmitting a signal. No
further tracks of Pioneer 11 are scheduled. The spacecraft is headed toward the
constellation of Aquila (The Eagle), Northwest of the constellation of Sagittarius.
Pioneer 11 will pass near one of the stars in the constellation in about 4 million
years.
The Pioneer Venus Orbiter (Pioneer 12) was launched on 20 May 1978 on an
Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle. On 4 December 1978, the orbiter was injected into a
highly elliptical orbit around Venus. The periapsis, or low orbital point, of the
orbit was about 150 km (93 miles) above the surface of the planet. The apoapsis, or
highest orbital point, was 66,000 km (41,00 miles) from the planet. The orbital
period was 23 hours 11 minutes.
The orbit of Pioneer 12 permitted global mapping of the clouds, atmosphere and
ionosphere; measurement of upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and solar wind-ionosphere
interaction; and mapping of the planet's surface by radar. For the first 19 months
of the mission, the periapsis was maintained at about 150 km by periodic maneuvers.
As propellant began to run low, the maneuvers were discontinued, and Solar
gravitational effects caused the periapsis to rise to about 2,300 km. By 1986, the
solar gravitational effects caused the periapsis to start falling again, and the
orbiter instruments could again make direct measurement within the main ionosphere.
During the Orbiter's mission, opportunities arose to make systematic observations of
several comets with the Ultraviolet Spectrometer (OUVS). The comets and their date
of observation were: Encke April 13 through April 16, 1984; Giacobini-Zinner,
September 8 through 15, 1985; Halley, December 27, 1985 to March 9, 1986; Wilson,
March 13 to May 2, 1987; NTT, April 8, 1987; and McNaught, November 19 through 24,
1987. For Halley, the results showed that, near perihelion, the water evaporation
rate was about 40 tons per second.
Starting in September 1992, controllers used the remaining fuel in a series of
maneuvers to keep raising periapsis altitude for as long as possible. The fuel
supply was exhausted on 8 October 1992, and the Orbiter ended its mission as a
meteor flaming through the dense atmosphere of Venus.
Indexing Terms
The following terms may be used to index this collection.
Corporate Name
Ames Research
Center
Subjects
Pioneer 10 space probe
Pioneer 11 space probe
Pioneer Venus spacecraft
Geographic Names
Moffett Field
(Calif.)
Scope and Content
The Pioneer Project Collection consists of documents relating to the design,
construction, and engineering of the Pioneer 10 and 11 space probes and the Pioneer
12 spacecraft. While there are some photographs, slides, and videos, most of the
materials in the collection are documents. Spanning the lives of the three
spacecraft, the collection includes contractor and investigator grants, equipment
and instrument proposals, notes from meetings such as the Science Steering Group,
correspondence from main contractors such as the Hughes Aircraft Company and TRW,
and drawings of the assembly of equipment. Program and quarterly reviews, operations
manuals, descriptions and drawings of equipment and instrumentation, and design
reviews can also be found in the collection. General descriptive materials about the
spacecraft and their missions are also represented in the collection, such as press
releases, news and magazine articles, official NASA press kits, and newsletters.
Records of the early years of the Pioneer Program can be found among the papers of
Richard O. Fimmel, the second project manager for the Pioneer Program.
This finding aid presents only an overview of the types of materials found in the
Pioneer Project Collection, but you can view the complete
inventory on the
NASA Ames History Archives Web site.
Drawer 1
Pioneer 10/11 Investigator Reports and Publications
Drawer 2
Pioneer 10/11 Investigator Grant and Letters of Agreement
Files
Drawer 3
Pioneer 10/11 Investigators Miscellaneous
Drawer 4
Pioneer 10/11 Meetings
1988-1996
Drawer 1
Pioneer 12 Investigator Reports and Publications, and Program
Reviews
Drawer 2
Pioneer 12 Investigator Grants and Letters of Agreement Files,
A-Kli
Drawer 3
Pioneer 12 Investigator Grants and Letters of Agreement Files,
Knu-Rus
Drawer 4
Pioneer 12 Investigator Grants and Letters of Agreement Files,
Rus-Z
Drawer 1
Pioneer Venus Guest Investigators A-E
Drawer 2
Pioneer Venus Guest Investigators F-L
Drawer 3
Pioneer Venus Guest Investigators M-S
Drawer 4
Pioneer Venus Guest Investigators T-Z
Drawer 5
Pioneer Venus Science Steering Group Meetings
1977-1993
Drawer 1
Propellant Supply Assembly and Line Heater Assembly
1970-1972
Drawer 2
1977 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence, Changes to Documents
1977
Drawer 3
1977 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence, Changes to Documents
1977
Drawer 4
1978 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence, Changes to Documents
1978
Drawer 5
Thruster Cluster Assembly
Drawer 1
Pioneer Venus Specifications, PC-454 to PC-496
Drawer 2
Pioneer Venus Specifications, PC-400 to PC-453
Drawer 3
Pioneer Venus Specifications and Procurement Specifications,
Development Specifications, and Specification Changes and Other Data
1975-1978
Drawer 4
Pioneer Venus Test Specifications and Specifications Change
Notices
1975-1978
Drawer 5
Pioneer Venus Various Materials
1975-1989
Drawer 1
Quarterly Reports, Deviations and Waivers, Mass Property Reports,
Schedule Status Reports
1975-1978
Drawer 2
Readiness Reviews, Launch Vehicle, Atlas SLV 3D, Centaur D-A1
1976-1979
Drawer 3
Hughes Aircraft Company, General Electric Subcontract Test
Program Plan
1974-1977
Drawer 4
Ames Research Center, Hughes Aircraft Company Management
Meetings, NAS2-8300 Contract, Negotiations
1973-1992
Drawer 5
Pioneer Venus NFRs, CFRs, EMIs
1976-1979
Drawer 1
Reviews, Closeout Documents, Data Packages, etc.
1975-1978
Drawer 2
Reviews, Closeout Documents, Data Packages, etc.
1976
Drawer 3
Pre-Ship Reviews, Final Desgn Reviews, etc.
1973-1975
Drawer 4
Pioneer Venus Proposals, Design and Development
1973
Drawer 5
Pioneer Venus Proposals, Design and Development and SEB
1972-1974
Drawer 1
Pioneer Venus Assorted Files
1979-1991
Drawer 2
Pioneer Venus Assorted Files
1970-1978
Drawer 3
Pioneer Venus Assorted Files
1975-1979
Drawer 4
ORAD V-34 and Long Eclipse Seasons and Assorted Files
1976-1986
Drawer 5
Pioneer Venus Hughes Aircraft Company Specifications Control
Documents and Assorted Files
1973-1991
Drawer 1
Pioneer Photos, Videos, Film, Slides
Drawer 2
Pioneer Photos, Videos, Film, Slides
Drawer 3
Pioneer Photos, Videos, Film, Slides
Drawer 4
Pioneer Photos, Videos, Film, Slides
Drawer 5
Pioneer Photos, Videos, Film, Slides
Drawer 1
Pioneer F/G (10/11) Assorted Data
1969-1982
Drawer 2
Pioneer F/G (10/11) Specifications
Drawer 3
Pioneer F/G (10/11) Specifications
Drawer 4
Pioneer F/G (10/11) Specifications
Drawer 1
Spacecraft Attitudes, Science Instruments and Miscellaneous
1964-1981
Drawer 2
Program Reviews, Quarterly Reviews
1969-1976
Drawer 3
Encounters, Pioneer F/G, 10/11
1964-1976
Drawer 4
Encounters, Experiments and Experimenters
1969-1981
Drawer 1
Experiments, Experimenters, Instruments
1967-1979
Drawer 2
Experiments, Experimenters, Instruments
1968-1994
Drawer 3
Pioneer Venus, Assorted Data
1974-1979
Drawer 4
Pioneer Venus, Assorted Data
1974-1991
Drawer 1
Press Kits and Informational Articles
1972-1993
Drawer 2
R.O. Fimmel, Records 1964-1970
1964-1970
Drawer 3
Deep Space Network, Pioneer Project, Pioneer Program
1964-1995
Drawer 4
Pioneer 6-11, Assorted Data
1973-1994
Drawer 1
NAS2-8300 Change Proposals
1975-1977
Drawer 2
Data Printouts, Sigma-S On-Line and IBM Information
1970-1974
Drawer 3
Pioneer F/G (10/11) Design Audits, Closeout Docs, Reviews, etc.
1970-1975
Drawer 4
Pioneer 10/11 Reviews, Closeout Docs, Data Packages, etc.
1970-1973
Drawer 1
Pioneer F/G (10/11) Reviews, Review Meetings, Test Data Packages,
etc.
1969-1971
Drawer 2
Pioneer F/G (10/11) Reviews, Review Meetings, Test Data Packages,
etc.
1970-1972
Drawer 3
Library Information, Information Systems Management, Computer,
Communications System and Data Processing
1964-1966
Drawer 4
Library, General
1952-1980
Drawer 1
Pioneer Venus Electrical Systems Tests
Drawer 2
1976 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence, Changes to
Documents, etc.
1976
Drawer 4
Pioneer 10/11 Propulsion Drawings
1966-1969
Drawer 1
1974 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence
1974
Drawer 2
M.A. Smith Pioneer 10/11/12, Headquarters, PSG and SSG
Meetings
Drawer 3
M.A. Smith Pioneer Venus Engineering
Drawer 4
M.A. Smith Pioneer Venus Engineering
Drawer 5
M.A. Smith Pioneer Venus Engineering
Drawer 1
Pioneer Venus Spacecraft System Design Study
1973
Drawer 2
Pioneer Venus Star Sensor/Sun Sensor
Drawer 3
Pioneer Venus Awards and Bibliography, Eclipse Seasons, UADS
1981-1985
Drawer 4
Pioneer Venus ACS, DCE, ADP, BAPTA, Propulsion, etc.
1971-1978
Drawer 2
TRW 1965 Black Box Test, Acceptance, Qualification Reports
1965-1967
Drawer 3
Hughes Aircraft Company 1975 Correspondence, Documents, etc.
1975
Drawer 4
Hughes Aircraft Company 1975 Correspondence, Documents, etc.
1975
Drawer 1
Pioneer F/G Project Management Reports and POP 79-2 Cost Analysis
1969-1974
Drawer 2
1975 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence, Changes to
Documents, etc.
1975
Drawer 1
1975 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence, Changes to
Documents, etc.
1975
Drawer 2
1975 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence, Changes to
Documents, etc.
1975
Drawer 3
1975 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence, Changes to
Documents, etc.
1975
Drawer 4
1975 Hughes Aircraft Company Correspondence, Changes to
Documents, etc.
1975
Drawer 1
G/E Pioneer Venus
1974-1975
Drawer 2
Pioneer Venus, Monthly Progress Reports and Miscellaneous
1971-1983
Drawer 3
Pioneer Venus Assorted Data
1973-1979
Drawer 4
Pioneer Venus, Large and Small Probe Communications Systems
Documents
1975-1978
Drawer 5
B. Jackson, Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe Journals
1977-1992
