Space in the 70's

Angel Brigade, they'll blow you away. Angel Brigade, bring it PG. The thousands of years man observed the rising and setting sun, the cycle of seasons, the fixed stars, and those he called wanderers or planets. And from these observations evolved his notions of the universe. The naked eye extended its vision through instruments that saw the craters on the moon,

the changing colors of Mars and the rings of Saturn. The fantasies, dreams, and visions of space travel became the reality of Apollo. 1970 President Nixon announced the objectives of a balanced space program for the United States

that would include the scientific investigation of all the planets in the solar system. the sun, only the earth is known to us at first hand. But observational techniques on earth and in space have given us some idea of the appearance and movement of the planets and enable us to depict their physical characteristics in some detail. Mercury, only slightly larger than the moon,

is so close to the sun that it is difficult to observe by telescope. It is believed to be one large cinder with no atmosphere and a day-night temperature range of nearly a thousand degrees. Venus is perpetually cloud-covered. Spacecraft report a surface temperature of 900 degrees Fahrenheit and an atmospheric pressure 100 times greater than Earth's. We can only guess

what the surface is like, possibly a seething nether world beneath a crushing poisonous carbon dioxide atmosphere. Of Mars, the red planet, we have evidence of its cratered surface photographed by the Mariner spacecraft. In this painting of the planet, seen from its inner moon, dust storms sweep the rust-colored surface. Jupiter, nearly half a billion miles from the sun, is