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Unit 7: Astrophysics Page 62

Historic Missions

Voyager Mission
Mariner 10 Mission

In 1977, NASA launched two small
Mariner 10 was a robotic space
spacecraft called Voyager 1 and
probe launched on 3 November
Voyager 2. Weighing only 800 kgs
1973 to fly by the planets Mercury
each, they collected a wealth of
and Venus. It was launched
scientific data and thousands of
approximately 2 years after
photographs of the four giant
Mariner 9 and was the last
planets in our Solar System. After
spacecraft in the Mariner program
visiting Jupiter and Saturn,
(Mariner 11 and 12 were
Voyager 1's trajectory left the
redesignated Voyager 1 and
ecliptic plane in order to
Voyager 2). The mission objectives
photograph Saturn's moon Titan.
were to measure Mercury's
This meant that Voyager 1 would
environment, atmosphere, surface,
not visit any other planets.
and body characteristics and to
However, Voyager 2 continued on
make similar investigations of
to visit Uranus and Neptune. Still
Venus. Secondary objectives were
today, Voyager 2 is the only
to perform experiments in the
spacecraft to have visited these
interplanetary medium and to
two "ice giants" and their moons.
obtain experience with a dual-
planet gravity-assist mission.
Pioneer 10

During its flyby of
Launched on
Venus, Mariner
March 2,
10 discovered
1972, Pioneer
evidence of
10 was the
rotating clouds
first
and a very weak
spacecraft to travel through the
magnetic field.
asteroid belt, and the first
spacecraft to make direct
Mariner 10 flew past Mercury three
observations and obtain close-up
times in total. Owing to the
images of Jupiter. Pioneer 10 is
geometry of its orbit — its orbital
now coasting silently through deep
period was almost exactly twice
space toward the red star
Mercury's — the same side of
Aldebarran, a journey of over 2
Mercury was sunlit each time, so it
million years.
was only able to map 40-45% of

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