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02/26/2003 Archived Entry: "PIONEER 10 SPACECRAFT SENDS LAST SIGNAL"

SO LONG OLD FRIEND: This makes me sad. NASA announced yesterday that Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, has been given up on. It's last signal was received by the Deep Space Network on January 22.

"NASA engineers report Pioneer 10's radioisotope power source has decayed, and it may not have enough power to send additional transmissions to Earth. NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) did not detect a signal during the last contact attempt Feb. 7, 2003. The previous three contacts, including the Jan. 22 signal, were very faint with no telemetry received. The last time a Pioneer 10 contact returned telemetry data was April 27, 2002. NASA has no additional contact attempts planned for Pioneer 10."

Goodbye old friend. You are now truly a part of the cosmos for the rest of time. That or until a Klingon Bird of Prey blows you up for target practice (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier reference).