Skip to Content

SLIDE COLLECTION: Pioneer 11


Slide Set Overview:

Displayed here are a selection from the Pioneer 11 slide set, taken by the spacecraft during closest approach, in Sept., 1979. The slide set was developed by the Lunar and Planetary Institute and made available on March 7, 1980.

The 1″ x 1.25″ slides have been scanned at a resolution of 3600 dpi with a minimal amount of processing.

The original 9 page slide set document was scanned and produced as a downloadable PDF.
Pioner11_Saturn1979.pdf

To view images:

• Click on image for a thumbnail view
• Click on the image name for full-resolution JPEG.
• Right-click to save as or open in a new window.
• Use browser back arrow to go back to main page.
• Click on the word Description, or +, for brief text about image. Click – sign to close description.


Description

The relative sizes of Saturn and the Earth.

Description

Color photograph of Saturn and its rings, taken by the 61″ telescope at the U. of Arizona’s Mount Lemmon Observatory on March 11, 1974.

Description

Artist’s conception of Pioneer 11 approaching the ringed planet on Sept. 1, 1979.

Description

Saturn from 3,500,000 km (2,170,000 mi.) on August 28, 1979.

Description

The moon Titan seen for the first time by spacecraft on Aug. 27, 1979, from about 370,150 km (230,000 mi.)

Description

Image taken by Pioneer 11 as it closes on Saturn and its rings for a close encounter September 1, 1979.

Description

58 hours before Pioneer 11 flies by Saturn after a billion plus mile trip from Earth that started in 1973.

Description

The best view yet available of Saturn and its rings, taken by Pioneer 11, from a distance of 2,500,000 km (1,500,000 mi.) on August 29, 1979.

Description

An image of Saturn’s rings by Pioneer shows the structure of Saturn’s ring system in detail.

Description

Saturn’s ring system and its shadow are seen in this view from Pioneer 11 when it was within 1,500,000 km (971,200 mi.)

Description

Pioneer, only 496,000 km (309,200 mi.) from Saturn, made this image of the planet’s equatorial region.

Description

Saturn’s rings clearly show two major divisions: the Cassini Division (dividing the outer A ring from the middle B ring) and the French Division (dividing the Planet’s middle B ring from the inner C ring).


Supplemental Slides:

Slides of mission-related diagrams.

Description

Backlit image of Saturn’s rings with rings and divisions identified.

Description

Diagram showing major features of Saturn and its ring systems.

Description

As Pioneer 10 and 11 leave the solar systen, they carry this plaque with a message which shows when, where and by what kind of beings the spacecraft were launched.

Description

Diagram of Pioneer 11 trajectory.

Description

Diagram of Pioneer 11 ring plane crossing as viewed from earth.

Description

Diagram comparing a proposed model of Saturn’s structure to that of the Earth and Moon.

Description

Diagram of a proposed Saturn atmospheric model.

Description

Diagram illustrating distances to the rings and satellites.

Description

TRW technicians at work on magnetometer boom on the Pioneer 11 spacecraft prior to its launch in April 1973.