Pioneer 6, 7, 8, and 9 - Vehicle Description

Vehicle Description

Each craft was identical, with an on-orbit dry mass of 146 kg. They were spin-stabilized 0.94 m diameter × 0.81 m tall cylinders with a 1.8 m long magnetometer boom and solar panels mounted around the body.

The main antenna was a high-gain directional antenna. The spacecraft were spin-stabilized at about 1 Hz, and the spin axis was perpendicular to the ecliptic plane and pointed toward the south ecliptic pole.

Instruments:

  • Solar Wind Plasma Faraday Cup (6,7)
  • Cosmic-Ray Telescope (6,7)
  • Electrostatic Analyzer (6,7,8)
  • Superior Conjunction Faraday Rotation (6,7)
  • Spectral Broadening (6)
  • Relativity Investigation (6)
  • Uniaxial Fluxgate Magnetometer (6)
  • Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy (6,7,8,9)
  • Celestial Mechanics (6,7,8,9)
  • Two-Frequency Beacon Receiver (6,7,8,9)
  • Single-Axis Magnetometer (7,8)
  • Cosmic Dust Detector (8,9)
  • Cosmic Ray Gradient Detector (8,9)
  • Plasma Wave Detector (8)
  • Triaxial Magnetometer (9)
  • Solar Plasma Detector (9)
  • Electric Field Detector (9)

Read more about this topic:  Pioneer 6, 7, 8, And 9

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