Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

Today in History: Final Signal from NASA's Pioneer 10 Detected

1/23/2026

30 6

Summary

Story summary

On January 23, 2003, NASA received the final signal from the Pioneer 10 space probe, which was approximately 12 billion kilometers (7.5 billion miles) away from Earth. Launched in 1972, Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt and reach Jupiter, marking significant milestones in space exploration.

1 of 1

Story summary

On January 23, 2003, NASA received the final signal from the Pioneer 10 space probe, which was approximately 12 billion kilometers (7.5 billion miles) away from Earth. Launched in 1972, Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt and reach Jupiter, marking significant milestones in space exploration.