3 December 1973
First Quarter, 50% lit
The first close look at Jupiter
Pioneer 10 crossed the asteroid belt, which nobody was sure was survivable, and returned the first close pictures of Jupiter.
It carries the engraved plaque with the two human figures, aimed at nobody in particular. The last signal came in January 2003 from about twelve billion kilometres away, and it is still going, in the general direction of Aldebaran, which it will reach in roughly two million years.
- Date
- 3 December 1973
- Moon computed for
- 02:00 local time, UTC
- Phase
- First Quarter
- Illuminated
- 50%
Source: NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, Pioneer 10