Let's look back 50 years: Pioneer 4 goes to Moon

William Atkins
Sunday, 01 March 2009 19:13

Science - Space

On March 3, 1959, Pioneer 4 was launched by NASA to become the first successful U.S. mission to the Moon. The little 6.1 kilogram space probe flew by the Moon to become the first U.S. craft to escape the gravitational pull of the Earth.


The Pioneer 4 probe—with naming convention: International Designator (ID) National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) 1959-013A, or ID NSSDC 1959-013A)—was launched at 17:11:00 Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

It was launched from Launch Complex 5 with a Juno II launch vehicle (rocket), with a 64-foot elongated Jupiter IRBM (intermediate-range ballistic missile) missile as its first stage, along with second, third, and fourth stages.

Pioneer 4 continues, along with its fourth stage rocket, to be in a Sun-centered (heliocentric) orbit with these following orbital parameters (which define its orbit in relationship to the body (the Sun) in which it revolves about):


An AU is the abbreviation for astronomical unit, or the average distance between the Sun and the Earth.

As such Pioneer 4 was the first U.S. space probe to enter a heliocentric (solar) orbit.

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