Kennedy Receives Mariner 2 Model, 1961. Dr. William H. Pickering, (center) Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director, presenting Mariner spacecraft model to President John F. Kennedy, (right). NASA Administrator James Webb is standing directly behind the Mariner model. The Mariner 2 probe flew by Venus in 1962 after the failure of Mariner 1, sending back data on its atmosphere, mass, and weather patterns. It stopped transmitting in 1963 after delivering a wealth of scientific information.