Pioneer 4

Launch Success

Liftoff Time (GMT)

05:10:56

Tuesday March 3, 1959

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24/7 Coverage

Mission Details

Pioneer 4

Wiki

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

Rocket

Retired
Juno II

Active 1958 to 1961

Army Ballistic Missile Agency logo

Agency

ABMA

Rocket

Height: 24m

Payload to Orbit

LEO: 41 kg

Liftoff Thrust

667 Kilonewtons

Stages

4

Launch Site

LC-5

Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA

Fastest Turnaround

28 days 2 hours

Stats

Juno II


2nd

Mission

1st

Mission of 1959

1959


4th

Orbital launch attempt