Mariner 2

Mariner 2 was the first space probe to reach a planet other than the Earth. It was launched in August of 1962 and made close-up observations of Venus in December of the same year. Mariner 2 observed that Venus did indeed have a very hot surface, noted that the thick cloud cover had no breaks, and also found that Venus did not have a magnetic field. Mariner 2 flew within 34,400 kilometers of the surface of Venus and transmitted to Earth information about its temperature and details about its atmosphere and rotational period.

All spacecraft images courtesy NASA
© The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, 1999