Mariner 10 - US postage stamp.
Nov 3, 2021
This artists' impression is of the Mariner 10 mission. Mariner 10, which launched on Nov. 3, 1972, was the first mission to perform an interplanetary gravity assist, using a flyby of the planet Venus to alter its path to meet Mercury. This allowed the spacecraft to meet Mercury on three occasions in 1974 and 1975.
The First Spacecraft to Use Gravity Assist
Related links:
Mariner 10: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/mariner-10/in-depth/
Gravity assist: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/primer/
Image Credit: NASA/Text Credits: NASA/Yvette Smith/Video Credit: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
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