Mariner 2 · 42 minutes
42 min
14 December 1962. Mariner 2 scanned Venus for 42 minutes. First successful planetary encounter.
Documentary plate
NASA / JPL. Magellan global mosaic of Venus. The 42 is the Mariner 2 scan, not this later map.
PhotoNASA / JPLPublic domain
On 14 December 1962 Mariner 2 flew 21,660 miles from Venus and scanned the planet for 42 minutes. First spacecraft to complete a planetary encounter.
NASA / JPL
Printed 42s
A proton count. A catalogue seat. A scan. A model boundary. A patch that draws 4 and II. A joke a JPL scientist made in public. Different kinds. NASA printed them. That does not make them one Answer.
The metal
- Z = 42Molybdenum
Proton count. The integer was 42 before Adams.
- jokeDouglas Adams element
Russell at JPL named the metal. NASA printed the joke.
Sky and distance
- M42Orion Nebula
Catalogue seat. NASA’s Cosmic Hearth is Maya reception.
- C42Caldwell 42
Another catalogue. NGC 7006. Not a measured forty-two.
- ≈42 AUKuiper collisions
Stern 1995. A modeled boundary, not Albion’s distance.
- 42.1 km/sSolar escape
Vis-viva at 1 AU. Family 4.2, not 42.00.
Missions and tools
42 minMariner 2here
A scan of Venus. Duration, not a law of the planet.
- 42 dApollo 12 S-IVB
Missed heliocentric burn. NASA prints the period.
- 42Expedition 42
Sequential crew number. The patch draws 4 and II.
- STS-42STS-42
Shuttle number. Discovery, IML-1.
- 42Horizons keywords
JPL’s own manual. A documentation count.
What it supports
A dated NASA/JPL mission duration. Radiometers scanned night side, terminator, and day side in that window.
What it does not
Not a Venus day. Not the 42 km radio extinction of Mariner 10. A scan length is not a law of the planet.
ExactnessExact
Form42 as duration
Unitminutes
Strengthhard
When1962-12-14