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It then passed close to Mercury on March 29, 1974, as it flew towards the Sun. This was the first observation made of Mercury at close range. After the encounter Mariner 10 was in an orbit around the Sun such that for every one of its orbits Mercury made two, and the spacecraft and the planet would be able to meet again. This allowed the probe ...
The Mercury-Jupiter 2 flight was planned as a maximum dynamic pressure qualification test of the production Mercury spacecraft with a chimpanzee on board. [271] On July 1, 1959, less than a year after the October, 1958 program start date, the flights were canceled due to budget constraints.
First crewed spacecraft to leave Earth orbit, first crewed lunar orbiter [129] [134] [135] Venera 5: 5 January 1969 Venus atmospheric probe [18] [136] Venera 6: 10 January 1969 Venus atmospheric probe [18] [137] Mariner 6: 25 February 1969 Mars flyby [138] [139] Apollo 9: 3 March 1969 Crewed lunar lander (LEM) flight test in Earth orbit [129 ...
Spacecraft Organization Date Type Status Notes Image Ref Pioneer 10: NASA: 3 December 1973 flyby success first probe to cross the asteroid belt; first Jupiter probe; first man-made object on an interstellar trajectory; now in the outer regions of the Solar System but no longer contactable 1972-012A: Pioneer 11: NASA: 4 December 1974 flyby success
Mariner 10, the first probe to visit Mercury. The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 (1974–1975). [20] The spacecraft used the gravity of Venus to adjust its orbital velocity so that it could approach Mercury, making it both the first spacecraft to use this gravitational "slingshot" effect and the first NASA mission to ...
Mariner 10 was an American robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury and Venus. It was the first spacecraft to perform flybys of multiple planets. [3] Mariner 10 was launched approximately two years after Mariner 9 and was the last spacecraft in the Mariner program.
First spacecraft to encounter Jupiter US: Explorer 49: Sun: Success: Solar probe 1973 US: Mariner 10: Venus/Mercury: Success: It passed by and photographed Mercury, also was the first dual planet probe US: Pioneer 11: Jupiter/Saturn: Success: First spacecraft to encounter Saturn France: Castor Pollux Earth Failure
The Mariner 10 spacecraft launched on November 3, 1973, and was the first to use a gravity assist trajectory, accelerating as it entered the gravitational influence of Venus, then being flung by the planet's gravity onto a slightly different course to reach Mercury. [1] It was also the first spacecraft to encounter two planets at close range ...