Pioneer 5

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Pioneer 5

Pioneer 5 mounted to its Thor Able launcher.
Organization NASA
Mission type Interplanetary space
Satellite of Sun
Launch date March 11, 1960 13:00:00 UTC
Launch vehicle Thor Able
NSSDC ID 1960-001A
Mass 43 kg
Orbital elements
Eccentricity 0.1689
Inclination 3.35°
Orbital period 311.6 days
Apoapsis 0.9931 AU
Periapsis 0.7061 AU

Pioneer 5 (also known as 1960 Alpha 1, Pioneer V, Pioneer P-2, and Thor Able 4) was a spin-stabilized space probe in the NASA Pioneer program used to investigate interplanetary space between the orbits of Earth and Venus. It was launched on March 11, 1960 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17a at 13:00:00 UTC[1] with an on-orbit dry mass of 43 kg. It is a 0.66 m diameter sphere with 1.4 m span across its four solar panels and achieved a solar orbit of 0.806 × 0.995 AU (121,000,000 by 149,000,000 km). Pioneer 5 was the only successful probe in the Pioneer/Able missions; the rest of which attempted to rendezvous with the Moon all failed.

Contents

[edit] Design and instruments

The spacecraft was a 0.66 m diameter sphere with four solar panels that spanned over 1.4 m. It was equipped with four scientific instruments:

  1. A triple coincidence omnidirectional proportional counter telescope to detect solar particles and observe terrestrial trapped radiation. It could detect photons with E > 75 MeV and electrons with E > 13 MeV.[2]
  2. A rotating search coil magnetometer to measure the magnetic field in the distant field of the Earth, near the geomagnetic boundary, and in interplanetary space.[3][4] It was capable of measuring fields from 1 microgauss to 12 milligauss. It consisted of a single search coil that was mounted on the spacecraft in such a way that is measured the magnetic field perpendicular to the spin axis of the spacecraft. It could output its measurements in both an analog and a digital format.[5]
  3. A Neher-type integrating ionization chamber and an Anton 302 Geiger-Müller tube (which functioned as a cosmic ray detector) to measure cosmic radiation. It was mounted normal to the spin axis of the spacecraft.[6]
  4. A micrometeorite momentum spectrometer (or micrometeorite detector) that consisted of two diaphragm and microphone combinations. It was used to measure the amount of meteoritic dust particles and the momentum of these particles.[7]

[edit] Mission

The spacecraft returned data collected by the magnetometer on the magnetic field and it measured that the median undisturbed interplanetary field was approximately 5 γ ± 0.5 γ in magnitude.[8] The spacecraft also measured solar flare particles, and cosmic radiation in the interplanetary region. The micrometeorite counter failed to operate as the data system saturated and failed to operate properly.[7]

Pioneer 5 with test equipment.
Pioneer 5 with test equipment.

The recorded digital data were transmitted at 1, 8, and 64 bit/s, depending on the distance of the spacecraft from Earth and the size of the receiving antenna. Weight limitations on the solar cells prevented continuous operation of the telemetry transmitters. About four operations of 25 min duration were scheduled per day with occasional increases during times of special interest. A total of 138.9 h of operation was completed, and over 3 megabits of data were received. The major portion of the data was received by the Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory and the Hawaii Tracking Station because their antennas provided grid reception. Data was received until April 30, 1960, after which telemetry noise and weak signal strength made data reception impossible. The spacecraft's signal was detected by Jodrell Bank from a record distance of 36.2 million km (22.5 million miles) on June 26, 1960, although it was much too weak by then to acquire data.[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chronology - Quarter 1 1960. Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  2. ^ NSSDC Master Catalog: Proportional Counter Telescope. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  3. ^ Coleman, Jr., P.J., Davis, Jr., Sonett, C.P. (July 15, 1960). "Steady Component of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field: Pioneer V" (fee required). Physical Review Letters 5 (2): 43-46. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.5.43. 
  4. ^ Dungey, J.W. (January 15, 1961). "Interplanetary Magnetic Field and the Auroral Zones" (fee required). Physical Review Letters 6 (2): 47-48. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.6.47. 
  5. ^ NSSDC Master Catalog: Search-Coil Magnetometer. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  6. ^ NSSDC Master Catalog: Ion Chamber and GM Tube. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  7. ^ a b NSSDC Master Catalog: Micrometeorite Spectrometer. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  8. ^ Greenstadt, E.W. (July, 1966). "Final Estimate of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field at 1 A.U. from Measurements made by Pioneer V in March and April 1960" (fee required). Astrophysical Journal 145 (1): 270-295. doi:10.1086/148761. 
  9. ^ NSSDC Master Catalog: Pioneer 5. NASA. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Pioneer
Previous mission: Pioneer Z Next mission: Pioneer 6, 7, 8 and 9
Pioneer 11 at Saturn
Pioneer 0 · Pioneer 1 · Pioneer 2 · Pioneer 3 · Pioneer 4 · Pioneer P-1 (W) · Pioneer P-3 (X) · Pioneer P-30 (Y) · Pioneer P-31 (Z)
Pioneer 5 (P-2) · Pioneer 6, 7, 8 and 9 · Pioneer 10 · Pioneer 11 · Pioneer H · Pioneer Venus project
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