... For a timeline of the exploration of the magnetic environment of the Earth, Sun and Planets, see here . ... Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) builds the first astronomical telescope and observes for the first time craters on the Moon, satellites around Jupiter, and the way Venus goes through phases like the Moon (crescent, etc.) ... 17 December--First successful flight by the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. ... 16 March--Goddard launches his first liquid-fuel rocket. ...

... Abstract . ... I.V. Holin (Space Research Institute of RAS (IKI)) . ... Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Science (IKI)) . ... Skulachev, Dmitri P. (Space Research Institute of RAS (IKI)) . ... Elena Gavryuseva (National Institute of Astrophysics and Space Physics, Florence , Italy and Institute of Nuclear Research of RAN) . ... Dmitri Vainchtein (Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences) . ... Elena Surovyatkina (Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences) ....

Mariner 2 . Mariner 2, the world's first successful interplanetary spacecraft, was launched August 27, 1962. It reached Venus on December 14, 1962, after a 108-day journey from Earth. ... The Mariner 2 mission was authorized by NASA in August 1961, less than a year before the first launch window. ... Mariner 2, the world's first successful interplanetary spacecraft, was launched August 27, 1962, and passed 34,916 kilometers (21,648 miles) from Venus on December 14, 1962. ... Space History . ...

Cosmic Research, Vol. 42, No. 5, 2004, pp. 435­488. Translated from Kosmicheskie Issledovaniya, Vol. 42, No. 5, 2004, pp. 453­508. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Veselovsky, Panasyuk, Avdyushin, Bazilevskaya, Belov, Bogachev, Bogod, Bogomolov, Bothmer, Boyarchuk, Vashenyuk, Vlasov, Gnezdilov, Gorgutsa, Grechnev, Denisov, Dmitriev, Dryer, Yermolaev, Eroshenko, Zherebtsov, Zhitnik, Zhukov, Zastenker, Zelenyi, Zeldovich, Ivanov-Kholodnyi, Ignat'ev, Ishkov, Kolomiytsev, Krasheninnikov, Kudela,