Planetary science

Mariner 10

Completed

Image: National Air and Space Museum · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Launched: 3 Nov 197305:45:00 UTC
Last contact: 24 Mar 197512:21:00 UTC
End declared: 24 Mar 1975
Duration: 1 year 4 months
Destinations: Venus, Mercury

The first spacecraft to visit Mercury and the first to use one planet's gravity to reach another, swinging past Venus on the way. It flew past Mercury three times and imaged almost half its surface.

Milestones

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19741975

Spacecraft

Mariner 10

Flyby

Completed

Three-axis stabilised probe with twin television cameras and a sunshade to cope with the heat near Mercury.

Launch mass: 502 kg
Dry mass: 473 kg
Size: 3.7 m × 1.4 m, span 7.6 m
Power: Solar
Built by: Boeing
Last contact: 24 Mar 1975, 12:21:00 UTC
End declared: 24 Mar 1975
Designator: 1973-085A

Mission details from science.nasa.gov.