Mariner 10

Mariner 10
Mariner 10 flight spare
Mission typePlanetary exploration
OperatorNASA / JPL
COSPAR ID1973-085A[1]
SATCAT no.6919[1]
Mission duration1 year, 4 months and 21 days
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerJet Propulsion Laboratory
Launch mass502.9 kilograms (1,109 lb)[2]
Power820 watts (at Venus encounter)
Start of mission
Launch date3 November 1973, 05:45:00 (1973-11-03UTC05:45Z) UTC
RocketAtlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A
Launch siteCape Canaveral, LC-36B
End of mission
DisposalDecommissioned
Deactivated24 March 1975 (1975-03-25) 12:21 UTC
Flyby of Venus
Closest approach5 February 1974
Distance5,768 kilometers (3,584 mi)
Flyby of Mercury
Closest approach29 March 1974
Distance704 kilometers (437 mi)
Flyby of Mercury
Closest approach21 September 1974
Distance48,069 kilometers (29,869 mi)
Flyby of Mercury
Closest approach16 March 1975
Distance327 kilometers (203 mi)
Reprocessed Mariner 10 data was used to produce this image of Mercury. The smooth band is an area of which no images were taken.

Mariner 10 was an American robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury and Venus. It was the first spacecraft to perform flybys of multiple planets.[3]

Mariner 10 was launched approximately two years after Mariner 9 and was the last spacecraft in the Mariner program. (Mariner 11 and Mariner 12 were allocated to the Voyager program and redesignated Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.)

The mission objectives were to measure Mercury's environment, atmosphere, surface, and body characteristics and to make similar investigations of Venus. Secondary objectives were to perform experiments in the interplanetary medium and to obtain experience with a dual-planet gravity assist mission. Mariner 10's science team was led by Bruce C. Murray at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.[4]

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