Completed · Success
Pioneer 9 was the fourth in a series of five NASA probes designed to collect data on electromagnetic and plasma properties of interplanetary space from widely separated points in heliocentric orbit.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Delta-60
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral, Launch Complex 17B
- Countries
- United States
- Mission types
- Heliophysics
Chronology
Mission timeline
Departure
Third-stage burnout and heliocentric injection
NASA SP-278 Vol. I Table 2-2 gives the injection time as 10:07:22.4 GMT. JPL TM 33-426 Vol. IV gives a solar-orbit starting epoch of 10:07:16.3 GMT, 6.1 seconds earlier. GMT is retained as a UTC candidate; the two report epochs remain distinct pending reconciliation.
EarthMission end
Recovery attempt failed
SETI equipment failed to re-establish contact; spacecraft declared inactive.
Sun
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Pioneer 9 · Spacecraft
Destinations: Sun
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- Pioneer 9: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data · bounded initial escape coast; later maneuvers and intervals remain open · November 8, 1968 to November 8, 1968
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through October 12, 2026
- Pioneer IX Operations Support, JPL Technical Memorandum 33-426, Volume IV — JPLTechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Heliospheric Trajectory Book 1 — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Pioneer IX Flight Operations, JPL Space Programs Summary 37-55, Volume II — JPLTechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Major NASA Expendable Launch Vehicle Launches — NASAArchive · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Pioneer 9 mission history — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Pioneer 9 - NASA Science — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims
- Pioneer 9 - NASA Science — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- COHOWeb historical heliographic positions and coordinate conventions — NASAArchive · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Pioneer6-9 compressed ephemeris tape documentation — NASAArchive · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Pioneer6-9 original and restored ephemeris tape documentation — NASAArchive · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- The Interplanetary Pioneers, Volume II: System Design and Development (NASA SP-279) — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- The Interplanetary Pioneers, Volume I: Summary (NASA SP-278) — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Pioneer 9: spacecraft and original data review — NSSDCAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Tables 3-147–3-150: Pioneer 6–9 Characteristics — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- NASA Release 65-375: NASA Schedules First in New Pioneer Series — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Our Sun: Facts — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context
- Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context