Mariner 10
Mariner 10 was the seventh mission in NASA's Mariner program, launched to explore the inner planets of the Solar System. Here are some key details:
- Launch Date: November 3, 1973
- Launch Vehicle: Atlas-Centaur
- Mission Objectives:
- To fly by Mercury and obtain close-up images of its surface.
- To study the environment of Venus, including its atmosphere, using ultraviolet filters.
- Firsts:
- First spacecraft to use the gravity assist technique, using Venus to alter its trajectory towards Mercury.
- First to return data from Mercury.
- Instruments:
- Television cameras for imaging
- Ultraviolet spectrometer
- Infrared radiometer
- Magnetometer
- Plasma analyzer
- Charged particle telescope
- Flybys:
- First flyby of Venus on February 5, 1974, at a distance of 5,768 km.
- Three flybys of Mercury:
- March 29, 1974, at 703 km
- September 21, 1974, at 48,069 km
- March 16, 1975, at 327 km
- Scientific Discoveries:
- Revealed Mercury to have a thin atmosphere primarily composed of hydrogen and helium.
- Discovered Mercury's magnetic field, which was unexpected due to the planet's small size.
- Provided detailed images of Mercury's surface, showing a heavily cratered terrain similar to Earth's Moon.
- Mission End:
- The spacecraft was turned off on March 24, 1975, after exhausting its maneuvering fuel and losing the ability to keep its solar panels aligned with the Sun.
- Mariner 10 is still in a heliocentric orbit and is expected to pass close to Mercury again in 2158.
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