Pioneer 10 Status Report 02-20-2003

Distance from Sun : 82.19 AU

Speed relative to the Sun: 12.224 km/sec (27,345 mph)

Distance from Earth: 12.21 billion kilometers (7.59 billion miles)

(Round-trip Light Time 3D 22 hours 38 minutes)

The Pioneer 10 signal was detected on 23 January 2003, but because of
limited link time (due to a high-power transmitter trip) no telemetry was
received. During uplink on 22 January 2003, the high-power transmitter
tripped off. A second high-power transmission was limited to a short time at
the end of the track. A GTT-off command was radiated. During downlink on
23 January 2003, the signal was found but there was no lockon to the
subcarrier. (Roundtrip Light Time was 22 hours 35 minutes).

On 5 December 2002, there was a Pioneer 10 contact. The Deep Space Station
(DSS) near Madrid (DSS-63) found the signal but could not lock onto the
receiver, and so no telemetry was received. The signal level was just under
the threshold value. The uplink from DSS-14 at Goldstone, sent 4 December
2002, at a power level of 325 kw, confirmed that the spacecraft signal
is still there (Round Trip Light Time 3D 22 hours 24 minutes).

Project Phoenix also picked up the signal at Arecibo in Puerto Rico.