NASA's Mariner 4 flew past Mars on 14 July 1965 at a distance of about 9,800 km and transmitted 21 photographs, taking hours to send each picture at a slow rate. They showed a cratered, moon-like surface instead of the canals and vegetation that earlier observers had imagined. The probe also measured an atmosphere much thinner than expected, with about one per cent of Earth's pressure. The findings disappointed those who hoped for life on Mars, but began a new era of planetary science.
Before and after
- 4 April 1965Birth of Robert Downey Jr.
- 8 April 1965Merger Treaty
- 11 May 1965Construction of Israel Museum
- 20 May 1965Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705
- 14 July 1965Mariner 4 sends the first close-up pictures of Mars
- 19 July 1965Introduction of Ghana cedi
- 31 July 1965Birth of J. K. Rowling
- from August 1965 to September 1965Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
- from 21 August 1965 to 27 December 1989Socialist Republic of Romania
More in Exploration & discovery
- 23 January 1960Piccard and Walsh reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep
- 25 May 1961Kennedy commits the United States to a Moon landing
- 14 December 1972Apollo 17: the last humans leave the Moon
- 20 July 1976Viking 1 lands on Mars
- 14 July 2015New Horizons flies by Pluto
- 19 April 2021Ingenuity makes the first powered flight on another planet
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.