Instruments carried for these experiments were magnetometer, plasma analyser, charged particle detector, ionising detector, non-imaging telescopes with overlapping fields of view to detect sunlight reflected from passing meteoroids, sealed pressurised cells of argon and nitrogen gas for measuring the penetration of meteoroids, UV photometer, IR radiometer, and an imaging photopolarimeter, which produced photographs and measured polarisation. Further scientific information was obtained from the tracking and occultation data. Pioneer 11 also carried a low-sensitivity fluxgate magnetometer. Atlas Centaur SLV-3D . Saturn flyby September 1979.
Solar system escape trajectory.
Saturn and its main rings. Pioneer 11, like Pioneer 10, used Jupiter's gravitational field to alter its trajectory radically. It passed close to Saturn and then it followed an escape trajectory from the solar system. The spacecraft has operated on a backup transmitter since launch. Instrument power sharing began in February 1985 due to declining RTG power output.