Mariner 4 was a robotic NASA probe launched on an Atlas-Agena rocket from Cape Canaveral, and it became the first spacecraft to fly past Mars successfully. Its sister craft Mariner 3 had failed only weeks earlier. In July 1965 Mariner 4 passed close to the planet and sent back a series of images, the first close-up pictures of another planet, showing a cratered, Moon-like surface. Its instruments also showed that the Martian atmosphere was far thinner than expected and that the planet had no strong magnetic field. The results ended popular hopes of finding canals or an advanced civilization, and they reshaped the planning of later Mars missions.
Before and after
- from 25 September 1964 to 8 September 1974Mozambican War of Independence
- 20 October 1964Death of Herbert Hoover
- 5 November 1964Launch of Mariner 3
- 21 November 1964Construction of Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
- 28 November 1964Launch of Mariner 4
- 1965California Dreamin'
- 1965(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
- 1965Founding of United Nations Development Programme
- 1965Publication of Dune
More in Universe & space
- 22 June 1978Discovery of Charon
- 20 January 1986Discovery of Ophelia
- 24 April 1990Launch of Hubble Space Telescope
- 1998Supernovae show that cosmic expansion is accelerating
- 20 November 1998Launch of International Space Station
- 10 April 2019The first image of a black hole
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.