[net.space] Pioneer Leaves Planetary System

alb@alice.UUCP (06/13/83)

At 0800 EDT today, Pioneer 10 became the first Earth-made craft
to pass out of the known planetary system, passing the orbit of
Neptune, the farthest known planet for the next 16 years.  Scientists,
who plan to maintain contact with the spacecraft for at least
the next ten years, say it will continue to look for the heliosphere,
the boundary of the sun's atmosphere, and a possible tenth planet
or brown dwarf star that some believe may be beyond the orbit of
Pluto.