Mariner

The Mariner 1 spacecraft bound for Venus is launched atop an Atlas-Agena 5 rocket from Cape Kennedy, in 1962. Unfortunately the spacecraft had to be destroyed by the range safety officer when it veered off course.

Series of US space probes that explored the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars 1962–75.

Mariner 1 (to Venus) had a failed launch. Mariner 2 (1962) made the first fly-by of Venus, at 34,000 km/21,000 mi, confirmed the existence of solar wind, and measured Venusian temperature. Mariner 3 (launched 4 November 1964) did not achieve its intended trajectory to Mars. Mariner 4 (launched 25 November 1964) passed Mars at a distance of 9,800 km/6,100 mi, and took photographs revealing a dry, cratered surface. Mariner 5 (1967) passed Venus at 4,000 km/2,500 mi and measured Venusian temperature, atmosphere, mass, and diameter. Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 (1969) photographed Mars's equator and southern hemisphere respectively, and also measured temperature, atmospheric pressure and composition, and diameter. Mariner 8 (to Mars, in 1971) had a failed launch. Mariner 9 (1971) mapped the entire Martian surface, and photographed Mars's moons. Its photographs revealed the changing of the polar caps, and the extent of volcanism, canyons, and features, which suggested that there might once have been water on Mars. Mariner 10 (1974–75) took close-up photographs of Mercury and Venus, and measured temperature, radiation, and magnetic fields.

Mariner 11 and Mariner 12 became Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which reached Jupiter 1979, Saturn 1980–81, Uranus 1986, Neptune 1989, and continue to the present travelling beyond the solar system.