Pioneer 4 Marked Beginning of NASA’s Exploration Beyond Earth

June 8, 2022

*NASA’s Space Launch System rocketed stands at Launch Complex 39B during testing for the Artemis 1 mission. Photo credit: SpaceAgeChronicle.com/Bob Granath*

By Bob Granath

Since its formation in 1958, one of NASA’s core missions has been to explore. The fledgling space agency’s first successful probe to study what lies beyond Earth was Pioneer 4, 64 years ago. NASA’s commitment to exploration is continuing with plans to launch an Orion spacecraft atop a Space Launch System rocket on the Artemis 1 mission targeted for later this year.

Technicians wearing cleanroom attire inspect the Pioneer 3 probe before shipping it to Cape Canaveral in late 1958. Like its sister spacecraft, Pioneer 4, was designed to measure the radiation intensity of the Earth and Moon's radiation and test long range communication systems. — Technicians wearing clean room attire inspect the Pioneer 3 probe before shipping it to Cape Canaveral in late 1958. Like its sister spacecraft, Pioneer 4, was designed to measure the radiation intensity of the Earth and Moon’s radiation and test long range communication systems. Photo credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech

Just two months after its inception, NASA planned two attempts to fly by the Moon and return data about cosmic radiation in the Earth and lunar environments. Developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the conical-shaped Pioneer 3 and 4 spacecraft were small by today’s standards, weighing just 13.2 pounds, and measuring 1.67 feet in length and 9 inches in diameter at the base.

Pioneer 3 lifted off on Dec. 6, 1958, atop an Army Ballistic Missile Agency Juno II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 5. However, depletion of propellant caused the first stage engine to shut down 3.7 seconds prematurely, preventing the spacecraft from reaching the speed necessary to break free of the Earth’s gravity.

Their faces showing the tension of the countdown, Dr. Kurt Debus, director of Missile Firing Division of the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), left, and Dr. Wernher von Braun, director of the ABMA Development Operations Division at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, follow Pioneer 4 launch operations. They are standing behind a console in the blockhouse at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 5. — Their faces showing the tension of the countdown, Dr. Kurt Debus, director of Missile Firing Division of the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), left, and Dr. Wernher von Braun, director of the ABMA Development Operations Division at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, follow Pioneer 4 launch operations. They are standing behind a console in the blockhouse at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 5. Photo credit: NASA

Although Pioneer 3 did not achieve escape velocity, it reached an altitude of 63 miles and discovered a second radiation belt around Earth. America’s first satellite, Explorer 1, launched Jan. 31, 1958, and made the initial discovery of what became known as the Van Allen Radiation Belts. University of Iowa Physics and Astronomy professor Dr. James Van Allen, for whom the energetic charged particle layers are named, developed the instruments for the satellite.

On the second attempt, on March 3, 1959, Pioneer 4 successfully lifted off and became the first American spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity.

The Soviet Union’s Luna 1 was the first probe to do so on Jan. 2, 1959. It was designed to impact the the lunar surface, but due to an incorrectly timed upper-stage burn during launch, Luna 1 missed the Moon but became the first spacecraft to enter orbit around the Sun.

The Juno II rocket lifts off on March 3, 1959 successfully boosting the Pioneer 4 spacecraft. It was America's first spacecraft to escape Earth's gravity and passing within 37,000 miles of the lunar surface. — The Juno II rocket lifts off on March 3, 1959 successfully boosting the Pioneer 4 spacecraft. It was America’s first probe to escape Earth’s gravity and passing within 37,000 miles of the lunar surface. Photo credit NASA

Pioneer 4 made its closest approach to the Moon on the second day of the mission, passing within 37,000 miles of the lunar surface. The payload included two Geiger counters, similar to those developed by Van Allen for Explorer 1, and a camera trigger mechanism as a test for future photographic missions. While the spacecraft did fly past the Moon, the camera sensor failed to trigger because its fly-by was at a greater distance than originally planned due to a trajectory error.

Pioneer 4 did provide extensive and valuable data on radiation and the tracking of space objects. Contact was lost from Pioneer 4’s tiny radio on March 6, 1959, after 82 hours of transmissions and 655,000 miles of travel. It was the farthest tracking distance for a human-made object at the time.

Numerous robotic probes were sent to orbit and land on the Moon in the years that followed leading to human exploration. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the NASA’s Apollo Program sent the first astronauts to circle Earth’s neighbor including six crews that landed there.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket is seen at sunrise stanging at Launch Compex 39B at the agency’s kennedy Sapce Center. The most powerful rocket ever built, the Space Launch System will send an Orion spacecraft on a mission well beyond the Moon. — NASA’s Space Launch System rocket is seen at sunrise standing at Launch Complex 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center. The most powerful rocket ever built, the Space Launch System will send an Orion spacecraft on a mission well beyond the Moon. Photo credit: SpaceAgeChronicle.com/Bob Granath

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo. NASA’s Artemis Program is a collaborative effort with commercial and international partners using innovative new technologies and systems to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. From there, the agency will use what was learned on and around the Moon to send astronauts to Mars.

Learning more about travel beyond Earth also is the objective of the upcoming first flight of Orion as NASA continues plans to explore farther into space than any human spaceflight vehicle since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.

An Orion spacecraft sits atop a Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis 1 mission is targeted for later this year. During its three-week trip, Orion will travel 280,000 miles past the Moon. The flight will be longer than any for a human-rated spacecraft without docking to a space station. — An Orion spacecraft sits atop a Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis 1 mission targeted for later this year. During its three-week trip, Orion will travel 280,000 miles past the Moon. The flight will be longer than any for a human-rated spacecraft without docking to a space station. Photo credit: SpaceAgeChronicle.com/Bob Granath

The largest launch vehicle ever built now is fully assembled at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and final preparations are underway to begin the agency’s most ambitious program of exploration. A series of integrated tests are underway prior to the targeted liftoff, now scheduled for no earlier than August 2022. The most powerful rocket ever built, the Space Launch System (SLS) will send an Orion spacecraft on a mission well beyond the Moon paving the way for landing the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface.

The SLS rocket is designed for missions carrying crew or cargo to the Moon and beyond. At liftoff, the launch vehicle will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust with the core stage’s four engines and a pair of solid rocket boosters. By comparison, the Apollo Saturn V Moon rocket and the Space Shuttle each generated about 7.5 million pounds of thrust.

On Artemis 2, the first astronauts to fly Orion will travel on a different trajectory and test the spacecraft’s systems. Plans call for future Orion missions to assemble and dock with a Gateway. A lunar orbiting space station, NASA and its partners plan to use the outpost for deep-space operations including missions to and on the Moon gaining experience to extend human exploration farther than ever before.

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