Mariner 2
On December 14, 1962 useful scientific information was radioed from a space satellite orbiting another planet for the first time. The satellite was the Mariner 2, the planet was Venus. It passed within 21,600 miles of the surface of Venus. Mariner 2 indicated that Venus is very hot, has no measurable radiation belts, and no measurable magnetic field. On Mariner 2's way to Venus is measured the dust, radiation, and magnetic field of interplanetary space. Contact was lost with the satellite on January 2, 1963; but we do know that it is now in orbit around the Sun. Mariner 2 was made and launched by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Mariner 2 held these six scientific instruments on it: two radiometers, one micrometeorite sensor, one solar plasma sensor, one charged particle sensor, and one magnetometer. No cameras were put on the Mariner 1 because the cloud cover on Venus would have made it close to impossible to take pictures of the planet.