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Space mission · NASA

Mariner 10

ExplorationCompletedLaunched 1973-11-03

Mission overview

Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft to visit Mercury and the first to use a gravity assist, swinging past Venus to reach Mercury.

Mission data

Identity and engineering data from Wikidata (type-verified match · Q59131) · launch date 1973-11-03 confirmed

International designator1973-085AWikidata · catalogued
OperatorJet Propulsion LaboratoryWikidata · catalogued
ManufacturerJet Propulsion LaboratoryWikidata · catalogued
Full field-level provenance
  • International designator: Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation) — community-curated structured knowledge base · Wikidata · wdt · P247 · catalogued value · retrieved 2026-07-11
  • Operator: Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation) — community-curated structured knowledge base · Wikidata · wdt · P137 · catalogued value · retrieved 2026-07-11
  • Manufacturer: Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation) — community-curated structured knowledge base · Wikidata · wdt · P176 · catalogued value · retrieved 2026-07-11

Sourced from Wikidata (community-maintained structured data, whose statements link to their own citations where provided); each value carries its Wikidata QID. A field with conflicting Wikidata values is omitted. Launch date is used only to cross-check the catalogue, never to override it. Fields Wikidata did not provide, or where conflicting values exist, are omitted, never invented.

Outcome & discoveries

Returned the first close-up images of Mercury during three flybys.

Mission profile

Target
Venus
Target
Mercury

Knowledge connections

Sources

The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.

  • NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics

    Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.