Indian scientists place a spacecraft in orbit

The spacecraft became the first human-made object to orbit another planet.

Engine firing slowed Mariner 9 enough for capture by Martian gravity.

The new orbit enabled prolonged planetary study, although a global dust storm initially limited surface views.

Mariner 9 showed how staying in orbit could reveal much more than a single passing encounter.

Designed and built in India, the country’s first satellite was launched on a Soviet rocket.

The launch from Kapustin Yar illustrates international cooperation in the early Indian space program.

The spacecraft took its name from the mathematician and astronomer whose work was studied in the earlier astronomy batch.

Despite its number, Voyager 2 departed before Voyager 1, beginning its journey to the outer planets.

Voyager 2 took a path that would later permit encounters with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

The spacecraft carried cameras and instruments to study planets, moons and their environments.