On Sept. 4, 1962, NASA's Mariner 2 spacecraft performed the first-ever rocket maneuver in deep space as it did a quick mid-course correction on its way to Venus.
It had launched just eight days earlier and needed to burn its engines to ensure that its trajectory would take it to Venus. The midcourse maneuver was necessary because the Atlas-Agena rocket that launched Mariner 2 didn't launch with enough accuracy to get the trajectory right in one shot.
When it was about 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km) from Earth, it fired its engines for 34 minutes to help steer it in the right direction. The entire maneuver required five separate commands sent from mission control, telling the spacecraft to roll, pitch, turn and burn its motor.
One hundred days later, Mariner 2 flew by Venus and became the first spacecraft to successfully fly by another planet.
It had launched just eight days earlier and needed to burn its engines to ensure that its trajectory would take it to Venus. The midcourse maneuver was necessary because the Atlas-Agena rocket that launched Mariner 2 didn't launch with enough accuracy to get the trajectory right in one shot.
When it was about 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km) from Earth, it fired its engines for 34 minutes to help steer it in the right direction. The entire maneuver required five separate commands sent from mission control, telling the spacecraft to roll, pitch, turn and burn its motor.
One hundred days later, Mariner 2 flew by Venus and became the first spacecraft to successfully fly by another planet.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:04In 1962, NASA's Mariner 2 spacecraft performed the first ever rocket maneuver
00:08in deep space during a quick mid-course correction on its way to Venus.
00:12It had launched just eight days earlier and needed to burn its engines to ensure that its trajectory
00:16would take it to Venus. The mid-course maneuver was necessary because the Atlas
00:20Agena rocket that launched Mariner 2 didn't launch with enough accuracy to get the trajectory
00:24right in one shot. When it was about 1.5 million miles from Earth,
00:28it fired its engines for 34 minutes to help steer it in the right direction.
00:32The entire maneuver required five separate commands sent from mission control
00:36telling the spacecraft to roll, pitch, turn, and burn its motor.
00:40100 days later, Mariner 2 flew by Venus and became the first spacecraft to successfully
00:44fly by another planet. And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:48Music
00:52Music