ARC-1973-AC73-9341

Composite Pioneer 10 imagery Excitement rose as the PICS displayed images of Jupiter of ever-increasing size as Pioneer 10 plunged at high speed toward its closest approach to the planet. The most dramatic moment was perhaps after closest approach and after the spacecraft has been hidden behind Jupiter. PICS (Pioneer Image Converter System) began to show a few spots on the screens, which gradually built up into a very distorted crescent-shaped Jupiter. 'Sunrise on Jupiter,' exclaimed an experimenter excitedly. 'We've made it safely through periapsis.' Subsequent PICS images were of a crescent Jupiter gradually decreasing in size as the spacecraft sped away out of the Jovian system. Note: used in NASA SP-349 'Pioneer Odyssey - Encounter with a Giant' fig. 5-15 and SP-446 ' Pioneer - First to Jupiter, Saturn, and Beyond' fig. 5-16.

Date: 1973-03-20
Collection: ARC
Archive: NASA Image and Video Library
Type: photograph