February 5, 1974: Mariner 10 takes the 1st close-up pictures of Venus, the 2nd planet from the Sun, and the closest planet to Earth. In just 52 more days, it will do the same for the planet Mercrury.
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.
During its flyby of Venus, Mariner 10 discovered evidence of rotating clouds and a very weak magnetic field. Using a near-ultraviolet filter, it photographed Venus's chevron clouds, and performed studies of the planet's sulfurous, broiling-hot atmopshere.
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.
Previously, Mariner 1 had been launched on July 22, 1962, with the intention of reaching Venus, but it had a guidance failure shortly after launch, and was destroyed by a system activated from the ground. Mariner 2 made the 1st flyby of Venus on January 3, 1963, but it returned only data, not photographs. Mariner 5 flew by Venus on December 4, 1967, and it accomplished its mission: Not to return photographs, but to measure magnetic fields and various emissions of the Venusian atmosphere. The Soviets landed Venera 7 on Venus on December 15, 1970, but it only returned information, not photos.
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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February 5, 1974 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Phoenix Suns, 106-90 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Capital Bullets, 121-103 at The Omni in Atlanta. In their 1st season after moving from Baltimore, the Bullets used the geographic identifier "Capital." For 1974-75, they became the Washington Bullets, until 1997-98, when they became the Washington Wizards.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 102-87 at the Cleveland Arena. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 33 points and 18 rebounds.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 100-98 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 116-112 in overtime at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. Rudy Tomjanovich scored 30 points for the Rockets, while Gail Goodrich scored 44 in defeat for the Lakers.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 129-113 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
* And the Detroit Pistons beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 104-102 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.
There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Denver Rockets beat the San Antonio Spurs, 82-79 at the Auditorium Arena in Denver. The following season, anticipating being let into the NBA, where there was already a Houston Rockets, the Denver team changed its name to the Denver Nuggets.
There were 2 games in the NHL. The New York Islanders beat the Minnesota North Stars, 6-2 at the Nassau Coliseum. And the Montreal Canadiens beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the St. Louis Arena. And there were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:
* The Jersey Knights lost to the Houston Aeros, 4-0 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.
* The Chicago Cougars beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-1 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.
* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Cleveland Crusaders, 4-1 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
* And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 8-0 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
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