Pioneer 10 is an American interplanetary space probe. It was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on March 2nd 1972. It is the first space probe in history to travel further than Neptune, the most distant planet from the sun. Pioneer 10 has led the way in the exploration of deep space. The project is conducted by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

When launched Pioneer 10 was carrying camera equipment and various scientific instruments. It also carried a plaque measuring 15.2cm x 22.8cm. The plaque has diagrams of our solar system and the sun’s position in space. It also depicts two nude figures of a man and woman.

Initially flying at a speed of 51,800kph, Pioneer 10 was the first to fly beyond the planet Mars and the first pass Jupiter. On June 13th 1983 Pioneer 10 crossed the orbit of Neptune and became the first space craft to leave our solar system and enter deep space. For almost thirty years the spacecraft continued to send data back to earth. The last usable data was returned on April 27th 2002. As far as we know, Pioneer 10 still travels on in deep space.

Pioneer 10, an American interplanetary space probe, having travelled 12 billion km from earth into deep space, sent its last signal back to earth in the year 2003 On This Day.

Photo by brewbooks

Pioneer 10 spacecraft

Pioneer 10 Trajectory by NASA on The Commons on 1972-03-07 00:00:00

Tony O’Malley was an artist who was a native of Co Kilkenny, Ireland. His father was from Clare Island off the Mayo coast. O’Malley was born in Callan Co Kilkenny in 1913. After completing education he began working with the Munster and Leinster Bank now part of Allied Irish Bank (AIB). Whilst working at the bank he began drawing and painting as a hobby.

In the 1940’s O’Malley contracted TB which gave rise to long periods of hospitalisation. He began painting in earnest while in convalescence. When he returned to bank work, he continued to paint and in 1951 he held the first exhibition of his work.

In 1958 O’Malley, who was by then an entirely self-taught artist, retired from the bank to paint full time. He had visited St Ives in Cornwall, then an important centre for abstract artists, on a number of occasions during the 1950’s. He settled in St Ives in 1960 in the company of many leading artists of the day. The Arts Council of Great Britain provided subsidised studios and accommodation in St Ives for artists allowing them to concentrate on their work. Tony O’Malley was a beneficiary of the scheme. Now O’Malley’s former home and the shop his parents owned in Callan has been transformed by his wife into a residence where artists can work and live.

Whilst living in St Ives, O’Malley met Canadian artist Jane Harris. They married in 1973 and began to live both in the Bahamas and Callan. In 1990 they made Ireland their home and by then O’Malley was one of the major figures in Irish contemporary art. President Mary Robinson conferred on him the title of Saoí of Aosdana in 1993. In 1994, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Trinity College, Dublin.

Tony O’Malley, who is regarded as one of Ireland’s leading painters, died at the age of 89 in the year 2003 On This Day.

Photo by infomatique

O’Malley’s Visual Journals by topgold