Astronomy & Space Word of The Day
pixel: Contraction of "picture element"; the area on the ground represented by each digital number in a digitized image; an individual element in a detector.
1967: Mariner 5 - USA Venus Flyby (Jun 14 to Nov, '67) completed its journey. It arrived at Venus on Oct. 19, '67, 1 day after Venera 4. It passed within 3,900 km of the planet's surface and studied the Venusian magnetic field & found that its atmosphere was composed of 85-99% CO2. It is now in a solar orbit.
1969: Apollo 12 - USA Lunar Manned Lander (Nov. 14-24, '69) Crew: Charles Conrad Jr., Alan Bean, Richard Gordon, Jr. Was a manned lunar landing which took place on Nov. 19, '69. Landing site was Oceanus Procellarum at lat 3°12' S & long 23°23' W. This was the landing site for Surveyor 3. Conrad & Bean retrieved portions of Surveyor 3, including the camera. Samples amounting to 34.4 kg were returned. Astronauts also deployed the Apollo lunar surface experiment package (ALSEP), an automated research station which was also deployed by all subsequent lunar crews.
1995: Pioneer 11 - USA Jupiter/Saturn Flyby - 259 kg - (Apr. 6, '73 - Nov. '95) left the solar system. It flew by Jupiter on Dec. 1, '74 passing 42,900 km from Jupiter's cloud tops. It took better pictures than Pioneer 10, & measured Jupiter's intense charged-particle & magnet field environment. As it flew by Jupiter it was given a gravity assist which swung it onto a course for Saturn. On Sep. 1, '79, Pioneer 11 flew past the outer edge of Saturn's A ring at a range of 3,500 km. It traveled underneath the ring system & passed 20,930 kilometers from Saturn's cloud tops.
1975: Venera 9 - USSR Venus Orbiter & Lander (launched June 8, '75) Lander arrived on the Venusian surface. Venera 9 arrived at Venus on Oct. 22, '75, 3 days before its sister spacecraft Venera 10. Both orbiters photographed the clouds & looked at the upper atmosphere. Differences in cloud layers were discovered at 57-70 km, 52-57 km, & 49-52 km from the surface. During a period of 53 minutes, it transmitted the first black & white images of the planets surface. It showed sharp-edged flat rocks & a basaltic terrain. Now in a Venus orbit.
