It is my understanding the first use of gravitational assist going from one planet onto another was on the MVM-73 (MA-10) Mission to Venus and Mercury.
I was involved in part of the MA-10 mission during Venus encounter when atmospheric density was measured by transmitting two different signals, one on 2-GHz and the other on 8-GHz. Comparison of difference in LOS times as the spacecraft passed behind Venus as viewed from earth measured the differential in bending of the signal thru the atmosphere. It was again measured by AOS times when the spacecraft re-emerged minutes later. Tracking stations in Australia participated.
As one of the two Rx operators at DSS-14 at Goldstone during Venus encounter, it was quite an experience to be directly involved in the experiment. That was spring of 1974 (which is 39-years ago). MA-10 went on to Mercury to obtain the first close observation of that (up to that time mysterious) planet.
I do not argue who was the discoverer of the effect.
72, Ed - KL7UW
At 05:00 PM 10/8/2013, i8cvs wrote:
Hi Glenn, AA5PK and All on the List
Just to remind that the effect flyby was discovered more than 20 year ago by Prof. Giuseppe Colombo (SK) astrophisic at the University of Padova in Italy and NASA consulting scientist.
Look please for him on Google
73" de
i8CVS Domenico
----- Original Message ----- From: "Glenn AA5PK" aa5pk@suddenlink.net To: "SAARC List" W5QX-Talk@lists.rimbachvets.org; "Star-Com BB" starcom-BB@star-com.net; "AMSAT BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2013 8:12 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] A reminder - Say "Hi" to Juno
Say "Hi" to Juno
NASA's Juno spacecraft will fly past Earth on October 9, 2013 to receive a
gravity assist from our planet, putting it on
course for Jupiter. To celebrate this event, the Juno mission is inviting
amateur radio operators around the world to say
"HI" to Juno in a coordinated Morse Code message. Juno's radio & plasma
wave experiment, called Waves, should be able to
detect the message if enough people participate. So please join in, and
help spread the word to fellow amateur radio
enthusiasts!
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/hijuno/
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com dubususa@gmail.com "Kits made by KL7UW"