If TRW had gotten a performance clause in there contract they would have been able to collect 30 years worth of royalties. As it has been 30 years since Pioneer 10 was launched on a 21 month mission which officially ended in 1997 but the craft has been up until Jan 22, 2003 when sent a very weak signal. No plan to try and communicate with the craft will be attempted.
Pioneer is now headed outbound at 82,000 miles per hour and if we are lucky will reach the nearest star in about 2 million years. That is if it doesn’t get blasted by a asteroid or picked up by and Alien :)
Makes you wonder what that craft will get to see. I’d like to see the look on the beings face that gets their hands on it someday. Along with the excitement of reading the map that is on the vehicle showing were it came from. [NASA]
Read more about the Pioneer Program