September 1, 1979: The 1st Close-Up Pictures of the Planet Saturn

September 1, 1979: The probe Pioneer 11 sends the 1st close-up photographs of the planet Saturn back to Earth.

It was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on April 6, 1973, and reached Jupiter on December 3, 1974, exactly 1 year after its predecessor, Pioneer 10, sent the 1st close-up pictures of that planet back to Earth.

But Pioneer 11, and later Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, would vastly improve upon the previous probe's work. The pictures of Saturn's famed rings became better than ever. And the moons! Where Saturn was once believed to have had 8 moons, 2nd to Jupiter's 15, it is now known to have at least 146 -- to Jupiter's 95.

Like Pioneer 10, it carries a 6-by-9-inch gold-anodized aluminum plaque, in case either of them is ever found by intelligent life-forms from another planetary system. The plaques feature the nude figures of a human male and female, along with several symbols that are designed to provide information about the origin of the spacecraft. The plaque is attached to the antenna support struts, where it would be shielded from interstellar dust.

In 1990, Pioneer 11 passed the orbit of Pluto. NASA defined this as having left the solar system. The last signal from it was received on November 24, 1995. 

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September 1, 1979 was a Saturday. There were 11 college football games, but only 1 was between 2 teams from major conferences: Arizona beat Colorado State, 33-17 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Kansas City Royals, 9-8 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 1st, knocking Rich Gale out of the box, and blew it. The Royals took an 8-5 lead in the top of the 4th, and neither Ken Clay nor Jim Kaat could get through that inning. Jim Spencer hit a home run, and Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4 with 3 RBIs, with a 2-run single and an RBI groundout. George Brett and Al Cowens hit home runs for the Royals. Al Hrabosky, "The Mad Hungarian," was the winning pitcher, Kaat the loser, and both became esteemed broadcasters.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Warren Cromartie went 4-for-4. Johnny Bench hit a home run.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Paul Hartzell outpitched Jim Palmer. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski and Manny Trillo hit home runs. Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Willie Horton doubled home the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The California Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Rod Carew did not play.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Rookie Rickey Henderson singled home the winning run in the top of the 10th.

* The Chicago White Sox were leading the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 after 5 innings at Comiskey Park in Chicago, when the game was called due to rain.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the San Francisco Giants, 5-3 and 7-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.