Editing Pioneer program (section)

{{short description|Series of United States uncrewed lunar and planetary space probes (1958-60; 1965-92)}}
{{distinguish|Pioneers Program}}
{{Infobox space program
| name = 
| image = Pioneer family.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = A family portrait showing (from left to right) ''Pioneers'' 6-9, 10 and 11 and the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe series
| country = United States
| organization = {{Unbulleted list
| [[Air Force Ballistic Missile Division]]
| [[United States Army]]
| [[NASA]]
  }}
| purpose = Lunar and interplanetary exploration
| status = Completed
| cost = 
| duration = {{Unbulleted list
| 1958–1960
| 1965–1992
  }}
| firstflight = [[Pioneer 0]] August 17, 1958
| lastflight = [[Pioneer Venus Multiprobe|Pioneer Venus]] August 1978
| successes = 9
| failures = 10
| partialfailures = 1
| launchsite = [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]]
| launcher = {{Unbulleted list
| [[Thor-Able]]
| [[Atlas-Able]]
| [[Juno II]]
| [[Delta E]]
| [[Atlas-Centaur]]
  }}
}}
The '''Pioneer programs''' were two series of [[United States]] lunar and planetary [[space probe]]s. 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 two of [[List of artificial objects leaving the Solar System|five artificial objects]] to achieve the [[escape velocity]] that will allow them to [[Solar System#Farthest regions|leave the Solar System]], and carried [[Pioneer plaque|a golden plaque]] each depicting a man and a woman and information about the origin and the creators of the probes, in case any [[extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrials]] find them someday.