Mariner 4

Mariner 4
Mission type	Mars flyby
Operator	NASA / JPL
COSPAR ID	1964-077A
SATCAT no.	942
Mission duration	3 years and 23 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Launch mass	260.8 kilograms (575 lb)
Power	310 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	November 28, 1964, 14:22:01 UTC
Rocket	Atlas LV-3 Agena-D
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-12
End of mission
Last contact	December 21, 1967
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Heliocentric
Semi-major axis	199,591,220 kilometers (124,020,230 mi)
Eccentricity	0.17322
Perihelion altitude	166,052,670 kilometers (103,180,350 mi)
Aphelion altitude	234,867,290 kilometers (145,939,770 mi)
Inclination	2.544 degrees
Period	567.11 days
Epoch	July 14, 1965, 21:00:57 UTC
Flyby of Mars
Closest approach	July 15, 1965, 01:00:57 UTC
Distance	9,846 kilometers (6,118 miles)
Instruments
	Cosmic dust detector ; Cosmic ray telescope ; Geiger counter/ionization chamber ; Helium magnetometer ; Solar plasma probe ; Trapped radiation detector ; TV camera
	Mariner program ← Mariner 3 Mariner 5 →

Mariner 4 (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,^[2] 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.^[3]^[4] 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.^[5] On December 21, 1967, communications with Mariner 4 were terminated.

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