NASA’s groundbreaking Pioneer 10 spacecraft and its incredible mission into the interstellar void are showcased on Powercoin’s latest

Launched on 3 March 1972, Pioneer 10 set off on a journey to explore the outer solar system, scheduled to last 21-months. In January 2003, some 30 years, and 12.23 billion kilometres later, it finally sent its last signal. It’s journey over those three decades has entered the annals of space exploration with legendary status, fully deserving its name.

With a state-of-the-art equipment load powered by four radioisotope thermoelectric generators, it headed out towards its target – Jupiter. It racked up a host of firsts on its journey. The first to fly beyond Mars, through the asteroid belt, fly past Jupiter, and go beyond Neptune, taking pictures as it went. Currently, it’s on its way to the general vicinity of Aldebaran, a star 68 light years away. It will perhaps arrive there in around two million years. Maybe mankind will be there to meet it…

On board Pioneer 10 was a plaque similar to the famous one affixed to Voyager 1. The brainchild of popular scientist, Carl Sagan, it’s designed to tell any alien discoverer of who built the craft, and depicts a man and a woman (alongside the probe for scale), a hydrogen molecule, the location of Earth relative to 14 pulsars, and Pioneer 10s route through our solar system. A clever item, and a cool inspiration for Powercoin’s latest silver coin.

At 60 x 80 mm, this is an impressively sized two-ounce coin, and the reverse face reproduces the plaque on Pioneer 10, with some subtle enhancements in the relief. A terrific piece of early space history. The obverse is new, featuring a diagram showing Pioneer 10s route through the solar system, and an image of the spacecraft itself. It blows the mind that this little device is over 12 billion km away right now (although a Klingon Bird-of-Prey did blow it up in Star Trek V…). The issue details for Niue are also here. It will come boxed with a COA, and is available to order now. A first class homage to early space exploration history.