Mariner 9
The first space craft to enter orbit around another planet
Mariner 9 entered orbit around Mars on November 14th 1971. The first
Mars mission Mariner 4 flew past the red planet in 1965 and disproved the idea
of life on Mars. Mariners 6 and 7 flew by Mars in 1969 and sent back more
photos. Mariner 5 was sent to study Venus, Mariner 8 failed to leave the Earth’s
atmosphere.
Mariner 9 sent back the first really detailed images from
the surface of Mars. Mariner 9 studied about 70% of the surface and sent back
over 7,000 images, showing river beds, craters, massive extinct volcanoes including
Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the Solar System. Mariner 9 images led
directly to its reclassification from Nix Olympica, before Mariner 9
astronomers thought this was a mountain rather than a volcano.
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| Olympus Mons |
Mars also has a grand canyon larger than the United States,
it was named the Valles Marineris, in honour of Mariner 9 there was also evidence
of wind and water erosion. Mars' small moons, Phobos and Deimos, were also
photographed.
The mission was shut down in October 1972.
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