Venus Rocket To Be Fired Today

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29911, 27 August 1962, Page 9

Venus Rocket To Be Fired Today

(A.Z. Press Association—Copyright) CAPE CANAVERAL, August 26. An attempt to launch a Mariner II spacecraft towards the planet Venus early today has been postponed for 24 hours because of technical difficulties.

The trouble, which is not serious, cropped up during the last part of the long, final-day countdown. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. the shot will now take place early tomorrow morning.

The problems were in the 10-storey-high Atlas-Agena B rocket

The gold-and-silver-plated instrument package, the electronic Mariner Explorer, is designed for a 182 million mile expedition that may answer one of the oldest and deepest mysteries of the universe: can life exist, as known on the earth, on the cloud-shrouded planet? If all goes well tomorrow. Mariner II will pass within 10.000 miles of Venus on the intended target date of De-

cember 14 and then fly on into endless orbit about the sun.

During a 30-minute sweep across the sunlit side of Venus, sensitive instruments, using high frequency radio signals, will seek to penetrate the heavy cloud veil surrounding the planffi. The current 50-day opportune period for the shot ends on September 13. Two launchings were scheduled in the period. Mariner 1 failed on July 22 when a faulty guidance equation sent the Atlas-Agena B off course and it was destroyed by the range safety officer after nearly five minutes of flight Russia took the only previous shot at Venus early last year. The Soviet probe passed within 62.000 miles of the planet, but sent back no data because its radios went dead early in flight.