Mariner 4 - Background

Mariner IV – Background

Mariner IV, the first spacecraft to fly past Mars, was launched on November 28, 1964.

Mariner IV is readied for launch in 1964.

Large, Larger. NASA photo. Scan: Jan Delgado.

Mariner IV’s trajectory from the Earth to Mars.

From page 9 of the DSIF-42 opening booklet – preserved and scanned by Harold Frodsham.

Mariner IV encountered Mars on 15 July 1965 and, in the weeks that followed, sent back the first close-up pictures ever seen of the Red Planet.

Early in the mission, the spacecraft was tracked by the Deep Space Stations at Goldstone, Johannesburg and Island Lagoon.

Tidbinbilla came on the air in December 1964. One week later, Island Lagoon was taken down for the L to S Band Conversion so it could support the Ranger lunar probes.

This pre-encounter map of the Martian surface shows how little was known about the Red Planet.

On this map, the areas imaged by Mariner IV (starting at the top) have been superimposed.

The top curved line indicates the limb of Mars as seen from the spacecraft. The lower curved line indicates the terminator at the time of encounter.

The small black trapezpoids indicate the areas to be imaged by Mariber IV’s camera.

Preserved by Les Whaley. Scanned by Colin Mackellar (red text and arrow added to the preview above).

Diagram of the Mariner IV Vidicon TV Camera.

Preserved by Les Whaley. Scan: Colin Mackellar.

How would the pictires from Mars be received and sent to JPL?

Preserved by Les Whaley. Scan: Colin Mackellar.

The JPL DSN Ground Communications Network for Mariner IV, as at May 1965.

Large, Larger.

Preserved by Les Whaley. Scan: Colin Mackellar.