The Depths of Space: The Story of the Pioneer Planetary Probes

by Mark Wolverton

The first spacecraft to explore the secrets of the Sun, Jupiter, Saturn, and the void beyond Pluto, the Pioneer space probes have been the trailblazers of the space age, truly going where no man has gone before. Emblazoned with the nude figures of a man and a woman, etched representations of our human form, the Pioneer generation of probes were aptly named. Launched into the inky depths of space, they were more than mere machines, they were humanity's first emissaries into deep space. And the pictorial inscriptions that adorned the crafts embodied the hopes and dreams of everyone involved in the Pioneer program. They were our humble attempt to communicate with the extraterrestrial intelligent life we imagined the probes might encounter-they were our message in a bottle. Perhaps the most efficient, reliable, and cost effective program to come out of NASA, the Pioneer missions are a shining example of how a small and talented group of people can, against all odds, pull something off that has never been done before. Indeed, more than thirty years after its launch in 1972, Pioneer 10 is still cruising into interstellar space, sending back data as it courses through the galaxy while Pioneer 6, in solar orbit, is more than 35 years old and humankind's oldest functioning spacecraft. But despite their enduring contributions, the Pioneer project remains a footnote in space history, little more than a humble prologue to its inheritors. The Depths of Space recounts the long overdue history of Pioneer both as a scientific and technological achievement and as the story of the exceptional people who made the program possible. This tight narrative captures the black-coffee buzz of full-throttle, deadline-driven production, the sharp, intense thrill of discovery, the pang of anxiety that accompanies looming danger and ultimate loss, and the satisfaction and pride of creating an enduring legacy.

Genres: Space, Nonfiction, Astronomy, Science

266 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Mark Wolverton was a science journalist, author, and 2016-17 Knight-MIT Science Journalism Fellow. He wrote for various national and international publications including WIRED, Nature, Undark, Scientific American, and Air & Space Smithsonian and also worked with the NASA Ames History Project, Argonne National Laboratory, the Franklin Institute, and the NASA ISS Science Office. Mark was a member of the Authors Guild, the National Association of Science Writers and the Pen & Pencil Club of Philadephia. His last book was "Splinters of Infinity: Cosmic Rays and the Clash of Two
Nobel Prize-Winning Scientists over the Secrets of Creation". Previous titles included "Burning the Sky: Operation Argus and the Untold Story of the Cold War Nuclear Tests in Outer Space"; "Nuclear Weapons"; "A Life in Twilight: The Final Years of J. Robert Oppenheimer"; "The Depths of Space: The Story of the Pioneer Planetary Probes"; and "The Science of Superman." He lived near Philadelphia.

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for any books about space, especially non-fiction and especially ones like this that detail the nitty-gritty of the whole shebang. Yes, yes, Pioneer got to Jupiter and Saturn first and thus earned its name--but what about the dedicated and ballsy folks that got this shindig off the ground? That's prologue to all the awesome space stuff and this book has a lot of that. Political shenanigans, the story of the Ames center in California and all the superlative engineers and managers and scientists that got this off the ground--that's half the story right there. Plus budget battles and waning interest in unmanned flight because its not as sexy and marketable.
The other half is just as awesome. The Pioneers encountering the asteroid belt, Jupiter, and Saturn for the first time--the gentle competition between Ames and JPL (and the Voyager program)--it's just exhilarating to read about. Wolverton ends nicely with the 21st century re-finds of the Pioneers' signal, still going strong as they pass onto their unending journey into interstellar space.
Yay!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! I was a little concerned, at first, that it was going to be *just* about the bureaucracy and project management aspects, but after the first quarter of the book was done, my fears went away. Yes, I would have loved *way* more technical detail, but for such a short book, I think Wolverton did a great job of balancing the many aspects of the program.

I knew next to nothing about the Pioneer probes, so there was a ton of fascinating new material here for me. I came away with a huge new appreciation of the entire program, but especially the boundary-pushing work of Pioneer 10 and 11. It's difficult now to really appreciate HOW LITTLE we knew about the outer planets until these probes flew by them!

[Indy Kochte · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Depths Of Space is a story of two little spacecraft and a NASA research center that could. This book is not a dryly written documentary, but an engaging tale that encourages the reader to keep turning pages, to find out what will happen next. Like the story of Apollo 13, we all know the outcome. But it's the journey to get there that matters, and Mark Wolverton delivers.

In the early days of space exploration, all the NASA centers were focused on the "do-or-die" space race. Except the Ames Research Center. Ask anyone at the time and they would say that Ames might come up with an interesting idea in material shape, vehicle design, or even a heat shield, but nothing more exciting than that. Ames was quite happy not to be in the limelight, as it was "not given to flights of fancy involving outlandish ideas such as space flight." To Ames, space flight was viewed as a fad of the day, with no long-term future. There would always be a need for better airplanes, which was the focus of Ames.

Then Ames found itself reorganized, with a new branch called the Vehicle Environment Division (VED), dedicated to support NASA's space flight goals. Albert Eggers, an idea man, was put in charge, and put forth a challenge to his engineers at the VED: to design, build, and launch a series of solar probes. Eggers' deputy assistant, and a very capable engineer in his own right, Charles Frederick "Charlie" Hall was given the task to oversee this project.

Meanwhile, the Army and Air Force were attempting to get probes to the Moon before the Soviets succeeded. Their project was called Pioneer, and they were instrumental in launching Pioneers 0 through 5. The first five of these six spacecraft went out in a blaze of failed glory, but each one getting further than its predecessor. Pioneer 0's Thor rocket booster blew up 77 seconds after launch. Pioneer 1 launched two weeks later, edging itself out of Earth's atmosphere to touch the inner Van Allen radiation belt, then burned up on re-entry two days later. Pioneer 2 made it up a thousand miles before it met with an untimely death, the victim of pre-mature burnout of one stage of its launch rocket and the failure of the booster rocket to even fire. Pioneer 3 made it 63,000 miles above Earth's surface, discovering the second Van Allen belt, before falling back and burning up. Pioneer 4 made it the closest to its goal, escaping Earth's gravity and passing within 37,000 miles of the Moon before it was lost in space. After this the Russians landed spacecraft on the Moon. Pioneer 5's mandate was to be the first spacecraft to be intentionally launched into solar orbit, which it succeeded at. 3 months later it would pass too far from Earth for any of its signals to be picked up again.

After this the Pioneer project was handed over to Charlie Hall and Ames. From the ground up, they designed, built, launched, and operated the Pioneer 6 through 9 spacecraft, all solar probe explorers, designed solely to measure the Sun's activity. Thus began Ames' move from being a purely research-oriented institute to a contender in space exploration.

Wolverton follows this substory with the main focus of the book: the design, construction, launch, and operations of the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft. These were to be the first manmade probes to explore the reaches of space beyond the orbit of Mars. Having been involved in missions such as Hubble, FUSE, and MESSENGER, I can say from experience that Wolverton captured the atmosphere of what went on behind the closed doors of the Pioneer project (which really hasn't changed all that much 30-40 years later with contemporary missions). From the scientists proposing experiments (both in working with engineers and management to the interplays in dealing with each other), to the work of the design and development teams, to mission operations and the realities imposed on operating spacecraft, you are put in the very rooms with these people as they argue, cajole, and support one another in order to make these spacecraft a success.

Again, as with the Apollo 13 story, Wolverton captures the tension in the air as the science and operations teams watch with trepidation as their little spacecraft penetrate the asteroid belt, skirt the radiation fields of Jupiter, and in the case of Pioneer 11, dance outside of Saturn's rings (in prep for the two follow-on JPL missions called Voyager).

While no longer operating (Pioneer 11's signal was lost in 1995, Pioneer 10 was last heard from in 2003), these two little emissaries of our world continue to this day heading out deeper into space, on course to transition from the outer boundaries of our solar system into interstellar space. Each probe carries with it a 6x9 gold anodized aluminum plaque with etchings of our solar system and two generic "naked people", should on some off chance the probes be discovered by an extraterrestrial intelligence. However remotely unlikely that is to occur. Space, you see, is really REALLY big, and the probes in it are infinitesimally small, a mere few tens of feet long. Traveling at 2.6 astronomical units (AU) per year (where 1 AU is the mean Earth-Sun distance), it will be over 26,000 years before Pioneer 10 passes within 6 light-years of Proxima Centauri, and over another 6,000 years before it passes within 4 light-years of the star Ross 248.

Mark Wolverton pulls together all the above, and more, into an excellent, non-technical historical story that should be a "must read" for every space exploration aficionado. All it really needs now is a soundtrack.

[Kent Archie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good description of the pioneer project. I would have liked more about the Venus mission. The excitement of the missions and their place in the history of space exploration was excellent. I also wish there had been more details about what the instruments were and how they worked. Recommended if you like engineering histories.

[Megan Rosenkranz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I again found this book while looking for texts for my students for the ethics of space exploration section of the next science bundle. I think some parts could work while discussing the history of space exploration but I would not order a class set and have all of my students read it.

[Doug Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pioneer 10 is heading in the direction of Aldeberan, 68 light years away, and should arrive in about 2 million years. Pioneer 11 is bound for Aquila and in 4 million years will pass near one of the stars in that constellation - perhaps Alpha Aquila (Altair), the 12 brightest star in Earth's sky and the third point in the Summer Triangle.