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Mariner 2’s Mission

  • February 6, 2015
  • By KIDS DISCOVER

Launched in August 1962, Mariner 2 was the first spacecraft to scan another planet. It found that Venus has a very hot surface and cool clouds. M2 was also the first probe to measure the solar wind. NASA stopped tracking it on January 3, 1963, but it’s still orbiting the sun. (Illustration: NASA)

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