On Dec. 14, 1962, NASA's Mariner 2 spacecraft flew by Venus.br br The Mariner 2 spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral on August 27, 1962, and It took the spacecraft three and a half months to reach Venus. NASA reported several technical problems along the way, but Mariner 2 pulled through, and passed less than 22,000 miles from the surface of Venus. This was the first time a spacecraft successfully flew by another planet. The mission not only taught NASA about Venus, but it also helped NASA figure out how to operate a spacecraft far away from Earth.