An artists' impression of the Mariner 10 mission, the first mission to perform an interplanetary gravity assist.
This artists’ impression is of the Mariner 10 mission. Mariner 10, which launched on Nov. 3, 1972, was the first mission to perform an interplanetary gravity assist, using a flyby of the planet Venus to alter its path to meet Mercury. This allowed the spacecraft to meet Mercury on three occasions in 1974 and 1975.
Image Credit: NASA