Pioneer 1 atop its launcher

Pioneer 1, the second and most successful of three project Able space probes and the first spacecraft launched by the newly formed NASA, was intended to study the ionizing radiation, cosmic rays, magnetic fields, and micrometeorites in the vicinity of the Earth and in lunar orbit. Due to a launch vehicle malfunction, the spacecraft attained only a ballistic trajectory and never reached the Moon. It did return data on the near-Earth space environment. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1054x1412, 1069 KB) Description: Thor-Able I with the Pioneer I spacecraft atop, prior to launch at Eastern Test Range at what is now Kennedy Space Center. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1054x1412, 1069 KB) Description: Thor-Able I with the Pioneer I spacecraft atop, prior to launch at Eastern Test Range at what is now Kennedy Space Center. ... The first three Able series of space probes were also called Thor-Able because they were launched on Thor booster rockets. ... NASA Logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Ionizing radiation is a type of particle radiation in which an individual particle (for example, a photon, electron, or helium nucleus) carries enough energy to ionize an atom or molecule (that is, to completely remove an electron from its orbit). ... Cosmic rays can loosely be defined as energetic particles originating outside of the Earth. ... Current flowing through a wire produces a magnetic field (M) around the wire. ... A Micrometeoroid (also micrometeorite, micrometeor) is a tiny meteoroid; a small particle of rock from space, usually weighing less than a gram, that poses a threat to space exploration. ... Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ...

Spacecraft design

Pioneer 1 consisted of a thin cylindrical midsection with a squat truncated cone frustum on each side. The cylinder was 74 cm in diameter and the height from the top of one cone to the top of the opposite cone was 76 cm. Along the axis of the spacecraft and protruding from the end of the lower cone was an 11 kg solid propellant injection rocket and rocket case, which formed the main structural member of the spacecraft. Eight small low-thrust solid propellant velocity adjustment rockets were mounted on the end of the upper cone in a ring assembly which could be jettisoned after use. A magnetic dipole antenna also protruded from the top of the upper cone. The shell was composed of laminated plastic. The total mass of the spacecraft after vernier separation was 34.2 kg, after injection rocket firing it would have been 23.2 kg. A frustum is the portion of a solid â€“ normally a cone or pyramid â€“ which lies between two parallel planes cutting the solid. ...

The scientific instrument package had a mass of 17.8 kg and consisted of an image scanning infrared television system to study the Moon's surface to a resolution of 1 milliradian, an ionization chamber to measure radiation in space, a diaphragm/microphone assembly to detect micrometeorites, a spin-coil magnetometer to measure magnetic fields to 5 microgauss, and temperature-variable resistors to record spacecraft internal conditions. The spacecraft was powered by nickel-cadmium batteries for ignition of the rockets, silver cell batteries for the television system, and mercury batteries for the remaining circuits. Radio transmission was at on 108.06 MHz through an electric dipole antenna for telemetry and doppler information at 300 mW and a magnetic dipole antenna for the television system at 50 W. Ground commands were received through the electric dipole antenna at 115 MHz. The spacecraft was spin stabilized at 1.8 rps, the spin direction was approximately perpendicular to the geomagnetic meridian planes of the trajectory. A magnetometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the strength of magnetic fields. ...

Mission

The spacecraft was launched on October 11, 1958 but it did not reach the Moon as planned due to a programming error in the upper stage causing a slight error in burnout velocity and angle (3.5 deg.). This resulted in a ballistic trajectory with a peak altitude of 113,800 km around 1300 local time. The real-time transmisfiouioasdfuodfouioasdufoasdifuoasdfusodfouasdiofuasdofuoasdufiouasdiofu iosdu fasdfkhsdkfhjsdkhsion was obtained for about 75% of the flight, but the percentage of data recorded for each experiment was variable. Except for the first hour of flight, the signal to noise ratio was good. The spacecraft ended transmission when it reentered the Earth's atmosphere after 43 hours of flight on October 13, 1958 at 03:46 UT over the South Pacific Ocean. A small quantity of useful scientific information was returned, showing the radiation surrounding Earth was in the form of bands and measuring the extent of the bands, mapping the total ionizing flux, making the first observations of hydromagnetic oscillations of the magnetic field, and taking the first measurements of the density of micrometeorites and the interplanetary magnetic field. October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in Leap years). ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See Also

• Able space probes

The first three Able series of space probes were also called Thor-Able because they were launched on Thor booster rockets. ...

External link

• NSSDC Master Catalog: Spacecraft Pioneer 1

 

Pioneer
Previous mission: Pioneer 0	Next mission: Pioneer 2
Pioneer 0 | Pioneer 1 | Pioneer 2 | Pioneer 3 | Pioneer 4 | Pioneer X (P-3) | Pioneer Y (P-30) | Pioneer Z (P-31)
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