Pioneer 10 launched on the 2nd of December 1973 as part of a series of United States uncrewed space missions. The spacecraft became the first to visit Jupiter and explore the outer Solar System by passing through the asteroid belt.
The spacecraft carried eight of eleven scientific instruments including imaging photopolarimeters, magnetometers, and plasma detectors. These tools measured magnetic fields, cosmic rays, zodiacal light, and atmospheric properties while traveling past Mars orbit and Jupiter.
Pioneer 10 operated from launch in 1973 until signals were last received on the 23rd of January 2003 after nearly thirty years of transmission. The probe continued to function beyond its planned two-year lifespan due to the 87.74-year half-life of Plutonium-238 fuel.
Current travel direction points toward the constellation Taurus and the general direction of the star Aldebaran located about 68 light years away. A close stellar flyby may occur approximately 90,000 years from now near the K-type star HIP 117795 at a distance of about 1.6 light years.
The spacecraft encountered intense radiation that reached 10,000 times maximum levels around Earth yet survived despite fears of failure. It captured over 500 images including synthetic green combinations and measured ion density ranging from 60,000 electrons per cubic centimeter on the dayside to 9,000 on the night face.