Mariner 4, Card No 27 (RaceIntoSpace 1971)

The Race Into Space (Brooke Bond, 1971)

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Card No. 27: Mariner 4

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The flight of the American Mariner 4 spacecraft was the first successful mission to Mars.

Launched from Cape Kennedy on Nov. 28, 1964, the 575 pound spacecraft flew past the planet at a range of 6,116 miles on the following July 15.

The 21 TV pictures revealed for the first time the existence of craters similar to those of the Moon. It was the first time that a member of the solar system, other than the Moon, had been photographed by a spacecraft.

Each picture took over eight hours to transmit due to the weakness of the signal received on Earth.