Mariner 4
On November 28th 1964 Mariner 4 was launched. It
would become the first spacecraft to visit Mars and send back photographs.
Although scientists knew that there were no canals or
intelligent life on the red planet, many assumed that there would be tundra
like plants and lichens there.
Mariner 4 flew past Mars on July 15th 1965 and
the photographs that Mariner 4 sent back although very grainy and of poor
quality compared to those that are sent back from modern space craft showed
that Mars was not covered in simple plant life, but looked more like the
surface of the Moon.
In one moment in time Mariner 4 changed all the old fashioned
romantic views of Mars. Today with rovers on the surface and space craft
orbiting Mars, scientists are still trying to answer questions set by the first
probe to visit Mars, Mariner 4.
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