Mark Schuler (American, B. 1951) "First Flyby of Jupiter 1973" Signed lower left. Original Watercolor painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This artwork was originally published on the Republic of the Marshall Islands 45c First Flyby of Jupiter stamp issued November 24, 1989. The Pioneer 10 spacecraft was launched March 3, 1972, and a similar Pioneer 11 was launched about one year later on April 5, 1973. Both highly instrumented, they had a common mission: make a close approach to the mysterious planet Jupiter, while performing sophisticated and detailed examinations of its atmosphere, gravity, radiation, and magnetic fields. After its swing around the great planet, Pioneer 10 headed for a rendezvous with the star Aldebaran -- light years away! Pioneer 11 made an even closer examination of Jupiter, barely surviving the hostile radiation belts, and was then whipped on its way to its future rendezvous, in 1979, with the great ringed planet Saturn. Pioneer 10 became the first man-made object ever to escape our solar system. Image Size: 13 x 13 in. Overall Size: 20 x 20 in. Unframed. (B12231)