NASA Accidentally Discovered a New Moon and It Almost Cost Them the Mission | Pioneer 11

Future Science

The Pioneer missions are credited with laying the foundation for future NASA missions, including Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Cassini and more. Pioneer 11 was a space probe launched in 1973 to study the outer Solar System, including Jupiter and Saturn. It was the first spacecraft to ever visit the gas giant planets, and the second to leave the Solar System. But its journey through the cold darkness of space wasn’t an easy one, in fact, it has been nicknamed the luckiest spacecraft because it managed to avoid many hazards. Including a very close encounter with a pair of undiscovered moons orbiting Saturn in 1979!

Credit V101 SPACE