00:00On this day in space.
00:04In 1962, NASA launched Mariner 2, the world's first successful interplanetary spacecraft.
00:09Mariner 2 flew by Venus after a three and a half month voyage through space.
00:13The mission launched just one month after the Mariner 1 mission failed during launch.
00:17After departing from Cape Canaveral, Mariner 2 almost met the same fate
00:20when an electrical malfunction with the Atlas Agena rocket caused it to start rolling,
00:24which made it unable to respond to any guidance commands from mission control.
00:28By some miracle, the problem fixed itself, and Mariner 2 was on its way to Venus.
00:32And that's what happened on this day in space.
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