Mariner 2 Spacecraft Pre-Launch. Technicians in the A&E Hangar at Cape Canaveral, Florida, attach the solar panels that will collect the Sun's energy power the Mariner 2 unmanned probe. Mariner launched on 27th August 1962, flew past Venus on 14th December 1962 (NASA Media Archives). Buy this as a superb wall poster, a canvas print or a framed print.