| 10 in 1997 because its
return signal was too weak to give clear
data. The distance was so great that it
took nine hours for a signal to reach the
craft. Pioneer 10 can still send back a
carrier wave, sort of a radio hum that
lets the Earth know it’s OK. The
last contact was made on November 30,
1997 via a 70-meter dish antenna designed
for deep space communications. .....All contact
will be lost during 1998 when the craft
moves beyond the range of even the most
sensitive equipment. The signal will fade
and finally become undetectable.
.....Pioneer
10 was launched as the first probe to
Jupiter. After a close-up study of the
giant planet, it was accelerated by the
slingshot effect of Jupiter’s
gravity and gained enough speed to leave
the solar system. Since then, it has
moved past the orbits of Uranus,
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