Launched April 6, 1973, Pioneer 11 became the first space probe to encounter Saturn on September 1, 1979. It followed Pioneer 10 through the asteroid belt and past Jupiter, but then headed toward Saturn. During its flyby, it discovered a new ring and almost collided with a new moon discovered the day before, Epimetheus. After the Voyager flybys, it was discovered that Janus (already known moon) and Epimetheus occupy the same orbit and are about the same size, so it could have been either one.
On September 29, 1995, NASA announced it was closing the project after over 22 years.
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