Context
-
Known as Pioneer 10, the United States will launch the first satellite aimed at Jupiter, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently announced.
About Pioneer 10
- Pioneer 10, the 250 kilo scientific probe will take nearly two years to reach its destination.
Credit: NASA - The fastest satellite ever blasted off towards a planet, Pioneer-10 will cover 800,000 kms. a day during the first week of its flight.
- When it becomes “caught” by the pull of the gravity of Jupiter — 1,000 times more powerful than the earth’s — it will fly over the planet at 79,200 kms. an hour, towards the end of next year.
- After that, Pioneer-10 will travel indefinitely through the inter-stellar world in a straight line. During the four-day over flight of the yellow-orange, grey-blue planet,
- It will study Jupiter’s magnetic fields, the atmosphere, and the radiation belts.
- NASA estimated that these radio-active belts were 1,000,000 times more intense than Van Allen’s rings around the earth.
- The Pioneer-10 probe will be one of the great “Firsts” in the cosmos, if everything goes according to NASA’s plans.
- It will give mankind the first-ever information on the hidden face of the planet which is now 800 million kms. from the earth.
Visit Abhiyan PEDIA (One of the Most Followed / Recommended) for UPSC Revisions: Click Here
IAS Abhiyan is now on Telegram: Click on the Below link to Join our Channels to stay Updated
IAS Abhiyan Official: Click Here to Join
For UPSC Mains Value Edition (Facts, Quotes, Best Practices, Case Studies): Click Here to Join