The Mariner 5 spacecraft was the fifth in a series of spacecraft used for planetary
exploration in the flyby mode. Mariner 5 was a refurbished backup spacecraft for the Mariner 4 mission and was converted from a Mars mission to a
Venus mission. The spacecraft was fully attitude stabilized, using the sun and Canopus as
references. A central computer and sequencer subsystem supplied timing sequences and
computing services for other spacecraft subsystems. The spacecraft passed 4,000 km from
Venus on 19 October 1967. The spacecraft instruments measured both interplanetary and
Venusian magnetic fields, charged particles, and plasmas, as well as the radio
refractivity and UV emissions of the Venusian atmosphere. The mission was termed a
success.
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