🚀 A tiny 2 mph difference changed a spacecraft's path by more than 10,000 miles.
On Sept. 4, 1962, NASA's Mariner 2 performed the first rocket maneuver in deep space while traveling about 1.5 million miles from Earth.
Without the correction, it was projected to miss Venus by about 233,000 miles. The maneuver initially aimed for a close 9,000-mile pass, but the spacecraft received an unexpected extra 2 mph of velocity. Over millions of miles, that tiny difference shifted its path dramatically.
Yet Mariner 2 still reached Venus and, on Dec. 14, 1962, became the first spacecraft to successfully complete a mission to another planet. 🪐
One small maneuver. Millions of miles. A journey that changed planetary exploration.
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