Pioneer 8
Pioneer 8 — the third node of the solar-weather network (launched 13 December 1967), monitoring the solar wind and cosmic dust from a solar orbit near Earth's distance. It was successfully tracked as late as 1996, nearly thirty years after launch.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- NASA
- Launched
- December 13, 1967
- Status
- Completed
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 1.01 AU
- Distance from Earth
- 3,856,631 km
- Distance from Venus
- 0.62 AU
Mission
Pioneer 8 was the third of the solar-weather monitors, launched on 13 December 1967 into a heliocentric orbit near Earth's distance from the Sun. Like its siblings it was a spin-stabilised drum studded with solar cells, carrying instruments to measure the solar wind, magnetic fields, cosmic rays and — a new addition — cosmic dust. Spread around the Sun with Pioneers 6, 7 and 9, it helped build a continuous picture of the space weather flowing out from the Sun, data that mattered both for pure science and for protecting astronauts and satellites. Pioneer 8 shared the family's remarkable longevity: designed for a short mission, it was still being successfully tracked in 1996, nearly thirty years after it left Earth, long after the six-month lifetime its builders had promised.
- 1967Third network nodeLaunch
Joins the solar-weather network near Earth's distance from the Sun.
- 1996Last successful trackingMission end
Still being tracked nearly thirty years after launch.
Images
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