Mariner 2, spacecraft to Venus, launched 1962

Mariner 2, the world's first successfully interplanetary spacecraft, was launched August 27, 1962. It took 109 days to reach Venus, passing within 21,000 miles of the planet on December 14.  It sent back valuable information about the Venusian atmosphere and interplanetary space.

Mariner 2 was not equipped with a camera so no images of Venus are available but it did carry important scientific instrumentation:

1. Microwave radiometer and infrared radiometer to measure temperatures of the Venusian atmosphere.
2. Fluxgate magnetometer to measure planetary and interplanetary magnetic fields.
3. Ionization chamber to measure high-energy cosmic radiation.
4. Particle detector to measure lower radiation.
5. Cosmic dust detector to measure the flux of cosmic dust particles in space.
6. Solar Plasma Spectrometer to measure the spectrum of low-energy positively-charged particles (solar wind).

The last transmission from Mariner 2 was received January 3, 1963 and has since been in a heliocentric orbit.

Mariner 2, the first probe to Venus

At the dawn of the space age, Mariner 2, the first spacecraft to visit another planet, Venus, was launched this day in 1962.  Although it encountered some glitches along the way, it was far more successful than Mariner 1, which had to be destroyed less than five minutes after launch.

Mariner 2 made the journey to Venus relatively unscathed, passing by in December 1962.  It measured solar wind, confirmed the temperature of Venus to be a sultry 864 °F, and atmospheric pressure high enough to crush Soviet probes.  It also discovered that Venus rotates in the opposite direction than the other planets.

However, Mariner 2 did not carry a camera, since cameras were not considered ‘scientific’ equipment, something NASA rectified on the next space probe.

Unfortunately, Mariner 2’s signals were tracked only until January 3, 1963 and is still in orbit around the sun.