NASA's Mariner 9 entered orbit around Mars on 14 November 1971, a few weeks ahead of two Soviet probes. A planet-wide dust storm hid the surface at first, but when it cleared the spacecraft revealed giant volcanoes such as Olympus Mons, the huge canyon later named Valles Marineris, dry riverbeds, and polar layered deposits. Over the year it mapped 85 per cent of the planet and photographed the moons Phobos and Deimos. Its images changed the picture of Mars from a dead world to a place with a dynamic past.
Before and after
- 20 October 1971Birth of Snoop Dogg
- from 27 October 1971 to 16 May 1997Zaire
- 3 November 1971Invention of chmod
- 12 November 1971Establishment of Arches National Park
- 14 November 1971Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet
- 15 November 1971Intel 4004
- from 3 December 1971 to 16 December 1971Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
- from 4 December 1971 to 5 December 1971Operation Trident
- from 8 December 1971 to 9 December 1971Operation Python
More in Exploration & discovery
- 3 August 1958The USS Nautilus crosses the North Pole under the ice
- 14 July 1965Mariner 4 sends the first close-up pictures of Mars
- 3 December 1973Pioneer 10 flies past Jupiter
- 5 March 1979Voyager 1 reveals Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io
- 25 August 1989Voyager 2 flies past Neptune
- 4 July 1997Mars Pathfinder and the Sojourner rover
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.