Pioneer 10: Die Hard with A Mission

The Deep Space Network was able to maintain communications for 29 years until August 2000 when it finally lost contact with the satellite. When it went into space, P-10 carried 11 instruments. The satellite has lasted far behyond what its engineers had hoped it would. So in an effort to conserve its limited and dwindling energy source, all but one instrument has been shut down. The last instrument in operation was a cosmic gieger which measures the sun's energy influence on the last outposts of our solar system.

In April of 2001 SPN re-established a connection with P-10's eight-watt transmitter. There are two modes in which SPN can communicate with Pioneer 10, the first is to simply listen for its signal from the transmitter, the second mode is when SPN sends a message and P-10 responds back. It currently takes about 22 hours to send and recieve. Its travelled twice as far as the distance of the Earth to the farthest planet.