| THE RACE TO THE MOON | ||
The Pioneer spacecraft were the first unmanned probes the U.S. sent outside the Earth’s atmosphere. While the Pioneer Program developed largely during the same time frame as the Mercury and Gemini programs, its mission objective was solely to come close to the Moon. Later crafts in the program were sent to explore the space environment, heliocentric (having the sun as the center) orbits, and then outer planets, eventually going past the Solar System. |
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