page_title: Pioneer program
section_title: Early missions
hierarchical_section_title: Pioneer program / Early missions
caption_attribution_description: English: Pioneer 3 &amp; 4
context_page_description: The Pioneer programs were two series of United States lunar and planetary space probes exploration. The first program, which ran from 1958 to 1960, unsuccessfully attempted to send spacecraft to orbit the Moon, successfully sent one spacecraft to fly by the Moon, and successfully sent one spacecraft to investigate interplanetary space between the orbits of Earth and Venus. The second program, which ran from 1965 to 1992, sent four spacecraft to measure interplanetary space weather, two to explore Jupiter and Saturn, and two to explore Venus. The two outer planet probes, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, became the first of five artificial objects to achieve the escape velocity that will allow them to leave the Solar System, and carried a golden plaque depicting a man and a woman and information about the origin and the creators of the probes, in case any extraterrestrials find them someday.
context_section_description: The earliest missions were attempts to achieve Earth's escape velocity, simply to show it was feasible and to study the Moon. This included the first launch by NASA which was formed from the old NACA. These missions were carried out by the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division, Army, and NASA.
caption: Lunar flyby spacecraft (Pioneer 3, 4)