For many centuries scientific information about the planets and the vast void that separates them has been collected by astronomers observing from the surface of the Earth. Now, with the flight of Mariner II, we suddenly have in our hands some 90 million bits of experimental data measured in the region between Earth and the planet Venus. Thus, man for the first time has succeeded in sending his instruments far into the depths of space, and indeed, in placing them near another planet. A whole new area of experimental astronomy has been opened up.
This book is a brief record of the Mariner Project to date and is designed to explain in general terms the preliminary conclusions. Actually, it will be months or years before all of the data from Mariner II have been completely analyzed. The most important data were the measurements made in the vicinity of the planet Venus, but it should also be noted that many weeks of interplanetary environmental measurements have given us new insight into some of the basic physical phenomena of the solar system. The trajectory data have provided new, more accurate measurements of the solar system. The engineering measurements of the performance of the spacecraft will be of inestimable value in the design of future spacecraft. Thus, the Mariner II spacecraft to Venus not only looks at Venus but gives space scientists and engineers information helpful in a wide variety of space ventures.
