Mariner 6 and 7 were the second pair of Mars missions in NASA's Mariner series of solar system exploration in the 1960s and early 1970s. As with the other Mariners, each launched on an Atlas rocket with either an Agena or Centaur upper-stage booster, and weighed less than half a ton (without onboard rocket propellant).
In 1969, Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 completed the first dual mission to Mars, flying by over the equator and south polar regions and analyzing the Martian atmosphere and surface with remote sensors, as well as recording and relaying hundreds of pictures. By chance, both flew over cratered regions and missed both the giant northern volcanoes and the equatorial grand canyon that was discovered later. Their approach pictures did, however, show that the dark features on the surface long seen from Earth were not canals, as once decades before
Mass: 413 kilograms (908 pounds)
Science instruments: Wide- and narrow-angle cameras with digital tape recorder, infrared spectrometer and radiometer, ultraviolet spectrometer, radio occultation and celestial mechanics experiments
Mariner 6 launch: February 24, 1969
Mariner 6 Mars flyby: July 31, 1969
Mariner 7 launch: February 27, 1969
Mariner 7 Mars flyby: August 5, 1969
+ NASA's Mars Exploration
+ More on Mars
+ Mariner fact sheet (PDF)
