BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: "CNN 20" today, Pioneer 10 lets man explore beyond the solar system.</s>BRIAN JENKINS, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pioneer 10 was originally designed to do a fly-by of Jupiter, and it had accomplished that mission by 1973, but it kept sending radio signals as it traveled outward to the end of the solar system, and by 1983, it was leaving the solar system.</s>CNN ANCHOR: This is a historic day in space exploration. The Pioneer 10 space probe flew beyond the limits of the solar system, it thus became the first man-made object to reach the deeper regions of outer space. And the spacecraft, launched 11 years ago, is still sending information back to Earth. CNN's Jim Clancy reports.</s>JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first intelligent messages from beyond the solar system were received at 9:22 a.m. Pacific time, and they were are own. Pioneer 10 was originally launched into space on a two-year mission, but its radio isotopic generators continued to function, and mission specialists say, it could continued to talk to Earth and accept commands for another 10 years. Unless the space probe collides with an asteroid or other debris, it could survive indefinitely.</s>JENKINS: Pioneer 10 was essentially mapping planets, and was able to radio back information. It was exciting because it was the first man-made object that had been launched out into space, and had flown past Neptune and Pluto.
CNN 20: Pioneer 10 Leaves Solar System, June 13, 1983