Mariner 10

Mission Details

Landmark Dates	Craft	Destination
Mariner 10 Launched: 3 Nov 1973 Venus flyby: 5 Feb 1974 Mercury flyby's: 29 Mar 1974, .... 21 Sep 1974 and 16 Mar 1975 Contact lost: 24 Mar 1975	Mariner 10	Mercury

All stations to Mercury

The Mariner 10 mission was the first planetary mission to Mercury. It's goal was to take pictures of the planet on three separate flyby's in 1974 and 1975. It also had the task of observing Venus en route. Mariner 10 used Venus as a gravity-assist (the first time this technique had been used) which slowed and deflected its trajectory towards the Mercurian world.

 

Mission Results: A magnetic field was found with a strength of one percent that of the Earth's Very slight atmosphere of Neon, Argon and Helium Temperatures ranged from +510 down to -210 degrees Celcius Large meteor impacts due to no weathering 35% of the surface was photographed Mercury looks very much like the Moon Even though contact was lost with Mariner 10, it is probably still happily orbiting the Sun.

The first flyby was the closest at only 670 kilometres (430 miles) above the surface.