Mariner 4
Sign in to saverobotic spacecraft sent by NASA to Mars
AI overview
Mariner 4 was a NASA robotic spacecraft sent to explore Mars. It was the first spacecraft to successfully fly by Mars and send back close-up pictures of the planet, marking an important early step in humanity's exploration of Mars.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Mission type
- Mars flyby
- Operator
- NASA / JPL
- Cospar id
- 1964-077A
- Mission duration
- 3 years, 23 days
- Spacecraft
- Mariner C-3
- Manufacturer
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Launch mass
- 260.8 kilograms (575 lb)
- Power
- 310 watts
- Launch date
- 14:22:01, November 28, 1964 (UTC) ( 1964-11-28T14:22:01Z )
- Rocket
- Atlas LV-3 Agena-D
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral LC-12
- Last contact
- December 21, 1967
- Reference system
Article
Mariner 4 (Mariner C-3, together with Mariner 3 known as Mariner-Mars 1964) was the fourth in a series of spacecraft intended for planetary exploration in a flyby mode. It was designed to conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and to transmit these observations to Earth. Launched on November 28, 1964, Mariner 4 performed the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first close-up pictures of the Martian surface. It captured the first images of another planet ever returned from deep space; their depiction of a cratered, dead planet largely changed the scientific community's view of life on Mars. Other mission objectives were to perform field and particle measurements in interplanetary space in the vicinity of Mars and to provide experience in and knowledge of the engineering capabilities for interplanetary flights of long duration. Initially expected to remain in space for eight months, Mariner 4's mission lasted about three years in solar orbit. On December 21, 1967, communications with Mariner 4 were terminated.
Spacecraft and subsystems