Recordeddatespace
Pioneer 11 passes Saturn — the first spacecraft to reach it
Threaded the ring plane at about 21,000 km from the cloud tops, proving the passage Voyager would take a year later. Encounter class: flyby.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Pioneer 11 · mission · not located
- Saturn · celestial body · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
NSSDCA master catalogue — Pioneer 10 and 11
Launch dates, Jupiter and Saturn encounter dates and end-of-contact record for the two outer-system Pioneers.
NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive · Partly verified
NSSDCA master catalogue, Pioneer 10 and 11 entries
Recorded on Pioneer 11
- Pioneer 11 passes Jupiter, bending north toward Saturn
- Pioneer 11 passes Saturn — the first spacecraft to reach it
- Voyager 1 passes Saturn and Titan, and leaves the plane of the planets
- Voyager 2 passes Saturn and continues towards Uranus
- Cassini enters orbit around Saturn
- Cassini’s Grand Finale — flown into Saturn to end the mission
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- Cassini’s Grand Finale — flown into Saturn to end the mission · 2017-09-15
- Cassini enters orbit around Saturn · 2004-07-01
- Voyager 2 passes Saturn and continues towards Uranus · 1981-08-25
- Voyager 1 passes Saturn and Titan, and leaves the plane of the planets · 1980-11-12
- Pioneer 11 passes Jupiter, bending north toward Saturn · 1974-12