THIS DAY IN HISTORY: Mariner V Launches from Florida’s House Coast to Venus for Flyby Mission in 1967

June 14, 1967

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – On June 14, 1967, Mariner V launched to Venus on a flyby mission to be taught in regards to the planet’s environment.

With an atmospheric stress greater than 90 occasions Earth’s and a temperature of 527 °C, we realized Venus wasn’t so just like Earth in spite of everything!

In 1967, as NASA continued preparations for the primary human touchdown on the Moon, the company as soon as once more turned its consideration towards exploring Venus.

Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, modified the backup Mariner 4 spacecraft to function nearer to the Solar, and on June 14, 1967, NASA launched Mariner 5 on a 127-day journey to the mysterious cloud-shrouded planet.

The spacecraft flew by Venus on Oct. 19, 1967, returning beneficial details about the planet’s environment and its radiation and magnetic discipline atmosphere.

The Soviet Union launched their Venera 4 spacecraft throughout the identical launch window, its capsule descending into the planet’s environment earlier than falling silent. Scientists from each international locations collectively revealed the outcomes from the 2 spacecraft.

Following its launch on June 14, 1967, the 540-pound Mariner 5 entered photo voltaic orbit on its technique to Venus. A course correction maneuver on June 19 refined this trajectory.

Throughout September and October, the spacecraft carried out joint observations of interplanetary area with Mariner 4, nonetheless working in photo voltaic orbit after its Mars flyby. On Oct. 19, Mariner 5 flew inside 6,309 miles from the middle of Venus, about 10 occasions nearer than its predecessor, Mariner 2, did in December 1962. Mariner 5 carried out seven investigations to check the planet in addition to interplanetary area earlier than and after the encounter:

• The photo voltaic plasma probe to watch the properties of the photo voltaic wind.
• The helium magnetometer to measure the course and energy of the magnetic discipline.
• The trapped-radiation detector to measure the flux of energetic particles.
• The ultraviolet photometer to detect atomic hydrogen and oxygen in Venus’ higher environment.
• The celestial mechanics investigation to assist refine the orbits of Earth and Venus.
• The S-band radio occultation experiment to measure the density of Venus’ environment because the spacecraft handed behind the planet.
• The twin-frequency propagation experiment to supply info on Venus’ ionosphere.