/
Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
05:10:56
Tuesday March 3, 1959
Watch Replay
24/7 Coverage
Pioneer 4 was launched by the U.S. to photograph the Moon during a close flyby. It didn’t achieve that goal but it did become the first American spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity and the nation's first probe to enter heliocentric orbit.
Trans Lunar Injection
1 Payload
6 kilograms
2nd
Mission
1st
Mission of 1959
4th
Orbital launch attempt