On this day (Feb. 25) in 1969, Mariner 6 was hefted off of Earth on a path to Mars. What’s less known is the spacecraft nearly was destroyed only 10 days beforehand as the rocket began to collapse. This NASA account succinctly summarizes what must have been a terrifying moment: A faulty switch opened the … Continue reading "The Mars Spacecraft That Was Almost Destroyed On The Launchpad"