UMSF space history photo of the month Options

[Guest_PhilCo126_*]

Maybe we could make this a monthly item, in which we could look back at the history of Unmanned Space missions.
For January 2008 I've chosen an image showing the coverage of the Sun by early Pioneer 5-8 spacecraft.
Pioneer 5 to 8, or Pioneer V to VIII using the system of Roman numerals in vogue during the early 1960s for spacecraft designations, were directed towards the Sun along the earth's orbit to monitor solar activity. Pioneer V was launched on 11th March 1960 and provided the very first space weather report 4 to 8 hours before a solar storm hit the Earth.
Some of this Pioneer quartet, Pioneer 6-7-8 even provided updates on our Sun's activity during the early Apollo Moon landings in order to check the damaging potential of solar flares to affect the astronauts.

[Guest_PhilCo126_*]

Well, after Mariner IX comes Mariner X

The 503 kg Mariner 10 spacecraft, launched on 3rd November 1973, was the first to make use of an interplanetary gravitational sling-shot maneuver, using the planet Venus to bend its flight path and bring its perihelion (point closest to the Sun) down to the first rock from the Sun, planet Mercury's orbit. Venus flyby occurred in February 1974 and Mariner 10 flew by Mercury in March + September 1974 and later in March 1975…
Mariner 10 completed one of the most successful planetary explorations: 4 encounters in 13 months!

The other Philip