#mariner 7

[marsmissiontournament]

Mars Mission Tournament Round 1 Match 5

Mariner 6 vs Mariner 7

(twin spacecraft get one picture)

Read about the spacecraft here.

Which of these early Mars orbiters is your favourite?

Mariner 6

Mariner 7

Voting ended onApr 20, 2023

[marsmissiontournament]

Meet the Contestants: Mariner 6 & 7

Mariner 6 and 7 spacecraft [NASA]

Mariner 6 and 7 were two nearly identical spacecraft which preformed flybys of Mars following the success of Mariner 4.

Mariner 6 launched on February 25, 1969, and reached its closest approach on July 31, 1969 (just 11 days after the Apollo 11 landing!). Mariner 7 launched a month later, on March 27 1969, and made its closest approach on August 5 of the same year.

On July 31, as Mariner 6 was making its closest approach, NASA lost telemetry from Mariner 7, and it switched to its low-gain antenna until the high gain became operational again.

Altogether the spacecraft took 201 pictures between them (75 by Mariner 6, 126 by Mariner 7) and got up-close images of 20% of the surface including the south pole. They also determined that Mars’ thin atmosphere was mostly composed of CO2, and to confirm that there were traces of water on Mars’ surface.

Read more on the NASA Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 sites.

Tune in for round 1 of the Mars Mission Tournament, when these spacecraft go head to head.

[spaceexp]

South Polar Cap of Mars as seen by Mariners 9 & 7 by NASA on The Commons on Flickr.

Via Flickr: Description: (August 1969) This mosaic of Mariner 9 frames (top), taken during the first orbit, shows the remnants of the south polar cap of Mars dimly through the great dust storm. Mariner 7 photographed the same area in August, 1969 (bottom) at which time the entire region was covered with dry ice. The strange quasilinear features of 1969 have been replaced by a number of bright curved appendages never before seen on Mars and, at this time, unexplained. Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. The spacecraft was designed to continue the atmospheric studies begun by Mariners 6 and 7, and to map over 70% of the Martian surface from the lowest altitude (1500 kilometers [900 miles])and at the highest resolutions (1 kilometer per pixel to 100 meters per pixel) of any previous Mars mission. Mariner 9 was launched on May 30, 1971 and arrived on November 14, 1971.

[for-all-mankind]

Mariner 7 approaching Mars in August, 1969.

NASA / JPL / Ted Stryk

[spacettf]

Mars full disk approach view from Mariner 7 by NASA on The Commons on Flickr.

Tramite Flickr: (1969) View of the entire planet of Mars from Mariner 7, showing NIX Olympia (later identified as the giant shield volcano Olympus Mons), and polar caps. Photographed from 200,000 miles away. The Mariner 7 spacecraft and its twin (Mariner 6) were designed specifically to concentrate on Mars. Better quality imaging was planned to give a more complete picture of the Martian surface to help in planning future missions to Mars to search for signs of life. Mariner 7 was launched on March 27, 1969 and arrived on August 4, 1969. nasaimages.org/luna/servlet/detail/nasaNAS~4~4~10798~1127...