Mariner 5

Mariner 5 was a spacecraft of the Mariner program that carried a complement of experiments to probe Venus's atmosphere with radio waves, scan its brightness in ultraviolet light, and sample the solar particles and magnetic field fluctuations above the planet. It flew by Venus on October 19, 1967 at an altitude of 3990 kilometers. With more sensitive instruments than its predecessor Mariner 2, Mariner 5 was able to shed new light on the hot, cloud-covered planet and on conditions in interplanetary space. Operations of Mariner 5 ended in November 1967.