Pioneer 11

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/pioneer-11

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the spacecraft designation?Pioneer G
2. What is the launch vehicle?Atlas Centaur
3. What was Pioneer 11 and when did it launch?Pioneer 11 was a NASA space probe that launched on April 5, 1973 to explore the outer planets.
4. Which planets did Pioneer 11 visit?It flew by Jupiter in December 1974 and Saturn in September 1979, becoming the first spacecraft to closely visit Saturn’s rings.

Magnetosphere: The region around a planet where its magnetic field influences charged particles.
Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG): A power source that uses the heat from radioactive decay to generate electricity for spacecraft.
Interstellar trajectory: The path of an object moving through the space between star systems.