The first mission to fly past the planet Mars was supported by three stations in Australia for maximum coverage of the first-ever encounter.

While DSS42 Tidbinbilla was the prime station in this part of the world, DSS41 Woomera and the Parkes Radio Telescope also tracked the spacecraft past Mars.

DSS41 had the prime tracking responsibility of Mariner 4 from launch until Tidbinbilla had come on line in early 1965.

To learn more about the Parkes involvement, see this information compiled by John Sarkissian (external link).

Download an 11MB PDF version of this Mariner 4 story, with additional material – much thanks to Glen Nagle. Produced June 2025.

Ideal for printing, or viewing on a tablet.

For best results, save the PDF to your device, and then the audio and other links will open separately in your web browser.