At NASA's Ames Research Center, near San Francisco, scientists fretted in their seats. But as the pictures flashed onto the screen, the tension eased. After a journey of 6½ years, the small unmanned Pioneer 11 spacecraft was fast approaching Saturn, whose image was being sent back with more clarity than could be obtained by any earth-bound telescope. One especially intriguing view, taken by the robot from a distance of 3.2 million km (2 million miles), showed both the giant ringed planet, a huge gaseous sphere 815 times larger than earth, and its major moon, Titan, where scientists have not entirely given...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
