NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

Pioneer 4

Launch Time
Tue Mar 03, 1959 05:10 UTC

Rocket

Juno II
ABMA
Status: Retired
Liftoff Thrust: 667 kN
Payload to LEO: 41 kg
Stages: 4
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 24.0 m

Mission Details

Pioneer 4

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.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 6.0 kg
Trans Lunar Injection

Location

LC-5, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA

Stats

1959

4th orbital launch attempt

Juno II

2nd mission
1st mission of 1959
1st successful mission
1st consecutive successful mission