Mariner
5
Mariner
5
was a spacecraft
of the
Mariner
program
that carried
a complement
of experiments
to probe
Venus's
atmosphere
with
radio
waves, scan
its brightness
in
ultraviolet
light,
and sample
the solar
particles
and
magnetic
field
fluctuations
above the
planet.
It flew
by Venus
on
October
19,
1967
at an altitude
of 3990
kilometers.
With more
sensitive
instruments
than its
predecessor
Mariner
2, Mariner
5 was able
to shed
new light
on the hot,
cloud-covered
planet and
on conditions
in interplanetary
space. Operations
of Mariner
5 ended
in November
1967.
