Mariner 4
An illustration of NASA's Mariner 4 spacecraft, the first successful mission to Mars. Mariner 4 was launched November 28, 1964 on a 228-day mission to Mars. The spacecraft carried instruments for eight interplanetary and planetary experiments including a TV camera. Mariner 4 passed Mars at a distance of 9,868 kilometers (6,118 miles), recording and transmitting to Earth our first close-up picture of the red planet. In 21 and a fraction of a 22nd picture, Mariner's TV camera scanned about one percent of the Martian surface, revealing ancient craters of varying size. Planetary science data, including pictures, were trasmitted over distances ranging from 215 million to 240 kilometers (134 million to 150 million miles).
