- Who
- NASA
- What
- first
- Where
- Not Applicable (Jupiter)
- When
- 1973
Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, was an unmanned NASA spacecraft which encountered the planet Jupiter on 3 December 1973. After becoming the first spacecraft to pass through the asteroid belt, it passed by the planet at a distance of 130,000 km above the cloud tops. The encounter yielded not only the first close-up images but also data on the planet’s magnetic field and proved Jupiter to be a primarily liquid planet.
