English subtitles for clip: File:1959-03-05 Pioneer IV Passes Moon.ogg

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A four-stage Juno rocket stands at Cape Canaveral, the countdown for launching

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a race against the clock toward the last moment, when it can hurl its payload

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across the Moon's orbit and into Outer Space.

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Less than a day earlier, a previous attempt was scrubbed. Now, every electrical

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circuit pre-checked and the fueling completed, the 60-ton Juno is ready for firing.

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The launching is slightly flawed, 95 miles an hour short of the planned peak velocity

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of 24,985 and its trajectory two degrees off. But the speed is ample to escape

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the bonds of Earth's gravity, the trajectory close enough to send the payload

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Pioneer IV within 38,000 miles of the Moon, a quarter of a million miles away.

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A burned out first stage, an intermediate-range Jupiter, falls away.

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And the second stage, a cluster of 11 solid Sergeant rockets, takes over

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within minutes of the launching.

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The third and fourth stages, also solid-fuel Sergeants, carry on,

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accelerating the Pioneer, a 13½-pound instrument package to a speed that will

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carry it into a course around the Sun, the newest planetoid of Sol's family.

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En route, the 20-inch-long Pioneer radioed back valuable new data on the

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recently discovered twin bands of radiation that circle the Earth.

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Another device that worked perfectly: the weighted de-spinning cables that

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arrested the rapid rotation of the Pioneer as it passed the Moon.

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After a year of experiment and effort, four prior failures, the United States

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sends its first rocket payload into interplanetary space.