Multimedia Gallery
- Topic: Navigating In Space
Mariner 10 used the gravity of Venus to propel itself to Mercury.
Mariner 10 on board an Atlas-Centaur Rocket.
Launched in 1973, Mariner 10 used the gravity of Venus to propel it to Mercury with a minimal use of fuel.
Trajectory of Mariner 10. After launch and flyby of Venus, it orbited the Sun to fly by Mercury three times.
A backup Mariner spacecraft hangs in the National Air and Space Museum’s Milestones of Flight gallery.
Length: 4 Minutes, 59 Seconds
Beginning in 1961, U.S. manned space missions were controlled from this room, "Mercury Control," at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Length: 23 Minutes, 30 Seconds
Deep Space Network (DSN) sends signals to a spacecraft, which returns these signals to the stations on Earth.
This illustration depicts NEAR-Shoemaker after landing on the asteroid Eros.
