1972    The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.

1973    Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.

1983    Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit.

1983    ''Pioneer 10'' becomes the first man-made object to leave the solar system.

2002    The last successful telemetry from the NASA space probe Pioneer 10.

2003    Final communication between Earth and Pioneer 10

2006    No response is received in the final attempt to contact Pioneer 10 by the Deep Space Network.