Pioneer 11: mission and targets
Data as of 2026-10-04
Dates declared by the archive
- Project start
- March 2, 1972
- Declared end
- September 30, 1995
The start the archive declares is the start of the project, not the launch, and an end it does not declare does not mean the mission is still running.
In Galaxy
Targets you can open in 3D:
A declared target is what the archive files the mission’s data under, not a record of observation.
Description published by the archive
NASA's Pioneer 11, a sister spacecraft to Pioneer 10, was the first spacecraft to study Saturn up close. The mission ended in 1995 and Pioneer 11 is on a trajectory to take it out of the solar system. Pioneer 11 is one of five spacecraft on a trajectory that will take them out of our solar system. Pioneer 11 will pass near the star Lambda Aquila in almost four million years. Like Pioneer 10 and Voyager 1 and 2, Pioneer 11 carries a message from humanity to the cosmos.
Quoted in English, as the archive publishes it, read on October 4, 2026.
Other targets declared
- Solar System (planetary system)
Source
Identifier in the archive, which is its citation: urn:nasa:pds:context:investigation:mission.pioneer_11
NASA Planetary Data System, PDS Registry, investigation context products. Dates and targets read on September 29, 2026; how to cite the archive: https://pds.nasa.gov/datastandards/citing/