March 29, 1974: Mariner 10 takes the 1st close-up pictures of Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun. It had been 52 days since the same probe had taken the 1st close-up pictures of the planet Venus.
Mariner 10 was launched at Cape Canaveral on November 3, 1973, reached its closest approach to Venus on February 5, 1974, and made 3 flybys (flysby?) of Mercury: March 29 and September 21, 1974; and March 16, 1975.
The probe revealed that the surface of Mercury resembled that of Earth's Moon (Mercury has no moons), with no water and lots of craters. It also found a tenuous atmosphere consisting primarily of helium, as well as a magnetic field and a large iron-rich core.
Mariner 10 stopped transmitting on March 24, 1975. It could have fallen into the Sun, but, most likely, is still orbiting the Sun, unable to transmit any data.
It was the only craft of the Mariner project designed to investigate Mercury, and was the last mission of the project. Mariners 1, 2 and 5 went to Venus, but only Mariner 5 accomplished its mission: Not to return photographs, but to measure magnetic fields and various emissions of the Venusian atmosphere. Mariners 4, 6, 7 and 9 went to Mars. Mariners 3 and 8 were intended as such, but failed at launch. Mariner 10 was the last mission of the project.
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March 29, 1974 was a Friday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 2 games played in the NBA Playoffs:
* The New York Knicks beat the Capital Bullets, 102-91 at Madison Square Garden. Elvin Hayes scored 40 points, and grabbed 14 rebounds. Earl Monroe led the Knicks with 26 points.
Having played the previous 10 seasons as the Baltimore Bullets, they moved for 1973-74, taking on the name "Capital Bullets." They played 9 home games at the Cole Field House on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park. They moved into the Capital Centre on December 2, 1973, and remained there until the 1997-98 season, when they moved into the District of Columbia, to the arena now known as the Capital One Arena.
* And the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 99-95 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena (a.k.a. The MECCA). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 35 points and grabbed 21 rebounds.
There were 2 games played in the American Basketball Association:
* The New York Nets beat the Virginia Squires, 108-96 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* And the San Diego Conquistadors beat the Denver Rockets, 131-111 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Both teams would change their name the next season: The Conquistadors became the San Diego Sails; and the Rockets, anticipating being brought into the NBA, where there was already a Houston Rockets, took on the name of the 1st NBA team that played in their city, the Denver Nuggets.
One game was played in the NHL: The Montreal Canadiens beat the California Golden Seals, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Three games were played in the World Hockey Association:
* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 3-1 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Houston Aeros, 7-5 at the Winnipeg Arena.
* And the Chicago Cougars beat the Vancouver Blazers, 5-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
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