Mariner 4 (Mariner-Mars 1964) was the fourth in a series of spacecraft used for planetary exploration in a flyby mode and performed the first successful flyby of the planet Mars, returning the first pictures of the Martian surface. It captured the first images of another planet ever returned from deep space; their depiction of a cratered, seemingly dead world shook the scientific community. Mariner 4 was designed to conduct closeup scientific observations of Mars and to transmit these observations to Earth. 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. Image File history File linksMetadata Mariner_3_and_4. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ... is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is a high-precision atomic time standard. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps or manifolds, traditionally bound into book form, but also found in multimedia formats. ... The Agena (designated RM-81 by the USAF) was a rocket upper stage developed by Lockheed for the ill-fated WS-117L US reconnaissance satellite program. ... is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday and the summer of 1967 was known as The Summer of Peace and Love (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... NASA logo The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) is a department in NASAs Solar System Exploration Division. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ...

Spacecraft and subsystems

The Mariner 4 spacecraft consisted of an octagonal magnesium frame, 1270 mm across a diagonal and 457 mm high. Four solar panels were attached to the top of the frame with an end-to-end span of 6.88 m, including solar pressure vanes which extended from the ends. A 1168 mm diameter high gain parabolic antenna was mounted at the top of the frame as well. An omnidirectional low gain antenna was mounted on a 2235 mm tall mast next to the high gain antenna. The overall height of the spacecraft was 2.89 m. At the bottom center of the spacecraft the television camera was mounted on a scan platform. The octagonal frame housed the electronic equipment, cabling, midcourse propulsion system, and attitude control gas supplies and regulators. Most of the science experiments were mounted on the outside of the frame. Science instruments, in addition to the TV camera, were a magnetometer, dust detector, cosmic ray telescope, trapped radiation detector, solar plasma probe, and ionization chamber/Geiger counter. General Name, Symbol, Number magnesium, Mg, 12 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 3, s Appearance silvery white solid at room temp Standard atomic weight 24. ... A magnetometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the strength and/or direction of the magnetic field in the vicinity of the instrument. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Power was supplied by 28,224 solar cells contained in the four 176 x 90 cm solar panels, which could provide 310 W at Mars. A rechargeable 1200 W•h silver-zinc battery was also used for maneuvers and backup. Monopropellant hydrazine was used for propulsion, via a 4 jet vane vector control 222 N motor installed on one of the sides of the octagonal structure. Attitude control was provided by 12 cold nitrogen gas jets mounted on the ends of the solar panels and three gyros. Solar pressure vanes, each with an area of 0.65 square meter, were attached to the tips of the solar panels. Positional information was provided by four Sun sensors, and an Earth, a Mars, and a Canopus sensor. Hydrazine should not be confused with Hydergine (Ergoloid mesylates) an ergot alkaloid Hydrazine is the chemical compound with formula N2H4, widely used in chemical synthesis. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless gas Standard atomic weight 14. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Telecommunications equipment consisted of a dual, S-band 7 W triode cavity amp/10 W TWTA transmitter and a single receiver which could send and receive data via the low- and high-gain antennas at 8⅓ or 33⅓ bit/s. Data could also be stored on a tape recorder with a capacity of 5.24 million bits for later transmission. All operations were controlled by a command subsystem which could process any of 29 direct command words or 3 quantitative word commands for midcourse maneuvers. The central computer and sequencer operated stored time-sequence commands using a 38.4 kHz synchronization frequency as a time reference. Temperature control was achieved through the use of adjustable louvers mounted on six of the electronics assemblies, multilayer insulating blankets, polished aluminum shields, and surface treatments.

Instruments:

1. Mars TV Camera
2. Helium Magnetometer
3. Cosmic-Ray Telescope
4. Occultation
5. Celestial Mechanics

Mission profile

Launch

After launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 12 the protective shroud covering Mariner 4 was jettisoned and the Agena D/Mariner 4 combination separated from the Atlas D booster at 14:27:23 UTC on 28 November 1964. The Agena D first burn from 14:28:14 to 14:30:38 put the spacecraft into an Earth parking orbit and the second burn from 15:02:53 to 15:04:28 injected the craft into a Mars transfer orbit. Mariner 4 separated from the Agena D at 15:07:09 and began cruise mode operations. The solar panels deployed and the scan platform was unlatched at 15:15:00 and Sun acquisition occurred 16 minutes later. The Bumper V-2 was the first missile launched at Cape Canaveral on July 24, 1950. ... is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...

Mars flyby

After 7.5 months of flight involving one midcourse maneuver on 5 December 1964, the spacecraft flew by Mars on July 14 and July 15, 1965. Planetary science mode was turned on at 15:41:49 UT on 14 July. The camera sequence started at 00:18:36 UT on July 15 (7:18:49 p.m. EST on July 14) and 21 pictures using alternate red and green filters, plus 21 lines of a 22nd picture were taken. The images covered a discontinuous swath of Mars starting near 40° N, 170° E, down to about 35° S, 200° E, and then across to the terminator at 50° S, 255° E, representing about 1% of the planet's surface. The closest approach was 9,846 km from the Martian surface at 01:00:57 UT 15 July 1965 (8:00:57 p.m. EST 14 July). The images taken during the flyby were stored in the onboard tape recorder. At 02:19:11 UT Mariner 4 passed behind Mars as seen from Earth and the radio signal ceased. The signal was reacquired at 03:13:04 UT when the spacecraft reappeared. Cruise mode was then re-established. Transmission of the taped images to Earth began about 8.5 hours after signal reacquisition and continued until 3 August. All images were transmitted twice to ensure no data was missing or corrupt. December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The spacecraft performed all programmed activities successfully and returned useful data from launch until 22:05:07 UT on 1 October 1965, when the distance from Earth (309.2 million km) and the antenna orientation temporarily halted signal acquisition. is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ...

Micrometeoroid hits and end of communications

Data acquisition resumed in late 1967. The cosmic dust detector registered 17 hits in a 15 minute span on 15 September, part of an apparent micrometeoroid shower which temporarily changed the spacecraft attitude and probably slightly damaged the thermal shield. Later speculation is that the probe made a close flyby to the possibly shattered nucleus of Comet D/Swift at only 20 million kilometers. [1] [2] or its debris. Data acquisition is the sampling of the real world to generate data that can be manipulated by a computer. ...

On December 7 the gas supply in the attitude control system was exhausted, and on December 10 and 11 a total of 83 micrometeoroid hits were recorded which caused perturbation of the attitude and degradation of the signal strength. On 21 December 1967 communications with Mariner 4 were terminated. December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday and the summer of 1967 was known as The Summer of Peace and Love (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ...

Results

The total data returned by the mission was 5.2 million bits. All experiments operated successfully with the exception of the ionization chamber/Geiger counter which failed in February 1965 and the plasma probe, which had its performance degraded by a resistor failure on 6 December 1964. The images returned showed a Moon-like cratered terrain (which later missions showed was not typical for Mars, but only for the more ancient region imaged by Mariner 4). A surface atmospheric pressure of 4.1 to 7.0 mbar (410 to 700 pascal) and daytime temperatures of −100 degrees Celsius were estimated and no magnetic field was detected. An ionization chamber is a device used for two major purposes: detecting particles in air (as in a smoke detector), and for detection or measurement of ionizing radiation. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A plasma lamp, illustrating some of the more complex phenomena of a plasma, including filamentation. ... Resistor symbols (non-European) Resistor symbols (Europe, IEC) Axial-lead resistors on tape. ... December 6 is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the SI derived unit of pressure or stress (also: Youngs modulus and tensile strength). ... Celsius is, or relates to, the Celsius temperature scale (previously known as the centigrade scale). ... Magnetic field lines shown by iron filings In physics, a magnetic field is a solenoidal vector field in the space surrounding moving electric charges and magnetic dipoles, such as those in electric currents and magnets. ...

The first close-up image ever taken of Mars, this photo shows an area about 330 km across by 1200 km from limb to bottom of frame. Caption: Mariner 4 image, the first close-up image ever taken of Mars. ...	The best Mariner 4 image, showing craters. Image File history File links Mariner_4_craters. ...	Mosaic of frame 1&2. The Martian atmosphere is visible over the planet's limb. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...	Mosaic of frame 9&10. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Mosaic of frame 11&12. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Images of craters and measurements of a thin atmosphere, indicating a relatively inactive planet exposed to the harshness of space, generally dissipated hopes of finding intelligent life on Mars. Life there had been the subject of speculation and science fiction for centuries. If there was life on Mars, after Mariner 4 most concluded it would probably be smaller, simpler forms.

Mariner 4 may have concluded the gradual change, in science fiction, from describing intelligent aliens as dwellers on other planets in our Solar System, to describing them as living on planets circling distant stars. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Major features of the Solar System (not to scale; from left to right): Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, the asteroid belt, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and its Moon, and Mars. ... Infrared Image of a possible extrasolar planet (lower left) in the Constellation Taurus, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. ...

The total cost of the Mariner 4 mission is estimated at $83.2 million. Total research, development, launch, and support costs for the Mariner series of spacecraft (Mariners 1 through 10) was approximately $554 million.

See also

• Exploration of Mars
• Space exploration
• Space probes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Mariner 4

v • d • e  Mariner Program
Previous mission: Mariner 3	Next mission: Mariner 5
Mariner 1 | Mariner 2 | Mariner 3 | Mariner 4 | Mariner 5 | Mariner 6 and 7 | Mariner 8 | Mariner 9 | Mariner 10

v • d • e Mars Spacecraft Missions
Flybys	Mariner 4 - Mariner 6 - Mariner 7 - Mars 4 - Rosetta
Orbiters	Mariner 9 - Mars 2 - Mars 3 - Mars 5 - Mars 6 - Viking 1 - Viking 2 - Phobos 2 - Mars Global Surveyor Mars Odyssey - Mars Express Orbiter - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Landers and Rovers	Mars 3 - Viking 1 - Viking 2 - Mars Pathfinder - Spirit rover - Opportunity rover
Future	2007: Dawn - Phoenix Scout 2009: Mars Science Laboratory - Phobos-Grunt & Yinghuo-1 2011: Mars Scout 2011 2013: Mars Science and Telecommunications Orbiter - ExoMars 2016: Astrobiology Field Laboratory Computer generated image of one of the two Mars Exploration Rovers which touched down on Mars in 2004. ... Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space, both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft. ... Technicians work on the Ulysses space probe. ... Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Launch of Mariner 1 (NASA) The Mariner program was a program conducted by the American space agency NASA that launched a series of robotic interplanetary probes designed to investigate Mars, Venus and Mercury. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1515x1218, 322 KB) Original Caption Released with Image: Mariner 2 was the worlds first successful interplanetary spacecraft. ... Mariner 3 and 4 were identical spacecraft of the Mariner program designed to carry out the first flybys of Mars. ... Mariner 5 was a spacecraft of the Mariner program that carried a complement of experiments to probe Venus atmosphere with radio waves, scan its brightness in ultraviolet light, and sample the solar particles and magnetic field fluctuations above the planet. ... Launch of Mariner 1 Mariner 1 was the first spacecraft of the Mariner program. ... -1... Mariner 3 and 4 were identical spacecraft of the Mariner program designed to carry out the first flybys of Mars. ... Mariner 5 was a spacecraft of the Mariner program that carried a complement of experiments to probe Venus atmosphere with radio waves, scan its brightness in ultraviolet light, and sample the solar particles and magnetic field fluctuations above the planet. ... Mariner 6. ... Mariner 8. ... Mariner 9 launch Mariner 9 was a NASA space probe orbiter that helped in the exploration of Mars and was part of the Mariner program. ... The Mariner 10 probe. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ... Computer generated image of one of the two Mars Exploration Rovers which touched down on Mars in 2004. ... Mariner 6. ... As part of the wider Mariner program, in 1969 Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 completed the first dual mission to Mars, flying by over the equator and south polar regions and analysing atmosphere and surface with remote sensors as well as recording and relaying hundreds of pictures. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... Rosetta is a European Space Agency-led unmanned space mission launched in 2004 intended to study the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Mariner 9 launch Mariner 9 was a NASA space probe orbiter that helped in the exploration of Mars and was part of the Mariner program. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mars 2. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... The Mars program was a series of Mars unmanned landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1970s. ... The Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASAs Viking program. ... Frost on Mars. ... The Phobos program was an unmanned space mission consisting of two probes launched by the Soviet Union to study Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos. ... The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) was a US spacecraft developed by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched November 1996. ... Artists concept of the 2001 Mars Odyssey Spacecraft 2001 Mars Odyssey is an unmanned spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. ... Oblique view of the Reull Vallis near the Hellas basin, rendered from data obtained by the Mars Express orbiters High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) The Mars Express Orbiter is part of the Mars Express program, a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to Mars. ... NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and exploration of Mars from orbit. ... A Mars Rover is an unmanned land vehicle for exploration of the planet Mars. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mars 2. ... The Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASAs Viking program. ... Frost on Mars. ... The Mars Pathfinder was launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II just a month after the Mars Global Surveyor was launched. ... The mission patch for Spirit, featuring Marvin the Martian. ... The launch patch for Opportunity, featuring Duck Dodgers (Daffy Duck). ... The Dawn Mission is a NASA mission that will send the Dawn spacecraft, a robotic space probe, to the asteroid belt. ... Phoenix is a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission to Mars under the Mars Scout Program. ... 2007 Mars Science Laboratory concept Schematic diagram of the planned rover components The Mars Science Laboratory (or MSL for short) is a NASA rover scheduled to launch in September 2009 and perform a precision landing on Mars in July-September 2010. ... Phobos-Grunt (rus. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Mars Science and Telecommunication Orbiter or MSTO is a proposal for what would be primarily an infrastructure component for future missions, but also perform some yet to be determined science activities of its own. ... ExoMars model at ILA 2006 (Berlin) ExoMars. ... The Astrobiology Field Laboratory is a proposed NASA unmanned planetary spacecraft to explore the planet Mars. ... 2024?: Mars Sample Return Mission
See also	Mars - Exploration of Mars - Colonization of Mars

External links

• Nssdc Mariner 4 page

Mariner 4 Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration The Mars Return Sample Mission is a joint project between NASA and ESA to collect rock and dust samples from Mars and to return them to Earth for analysis. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ... Computer generated image of one of the two Mars Exploration Rovers which touched down on Mars in 2004. ... Mars Mars is the focus of much speculation and serious study about possible human colonization. ...

• To Mars- The Odyssey of Mariner IV - Jan 1965 (PDF)
• Processed images and mosaics from the Mariner 4 mission to Mars
• Ted Stryk's Mariner 4 page