BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Mariner 4 led the way

July 14, 2015: Today's the day that NASA's New Horizons flies by Pluto and its system.

On July 14, 1965 - fifty years ago - NASA's Mariner 4 made a fly-by of Mars. That doesn't sound like a big deal now when New Horizons is out in the Kuiper Belt. (The Kuiper Belt's existence was still just a theory fifty years ago.) And, of course, there are several spacecraft orbiting Mars and two working rovers on the surface.

But Mariner 4 was the first successful Mars mission.

“Mariner” wasn't just a name for the mission, it was a mariner - like the mariners on Earthly seas, the craft sailed through space navigating by the stars. It used the star Canopus as a reference. Canopus is the brightest star of the southern constellation Carina, unfortunately not visible to observers above 37 degrees north latitude. It's second in brightness only to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

Mariner 4 had a star sensor, and when that found Canopus, the spacecraft's orientation was locked into the correct position to get the craft to Mars. Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft – but not the last – to use Canopus as a guide star.

What a great week for astronomy buffs! I must confess, however, that I do get annoyed with the "Yay USA!" stuff. To me, this is a triumph for science, which is built on the shoulders of other scientists. This particular mission might have been from the USA, but science is international in scope. Shouldn't we be celebrating the entire aerospace community?

Hopefully, my grouchy political stance doesn't offend anyone....

You're right, Korie, lots of people of different nationalities work for NASA, and there are others who who support the missions elsewhere. For example, the first place to receive the images from New Horizon's closest encounter with Pluto was in Australia.

The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) is part of NASA's Deep Space Network. It's one of the three tracking stations with the ability to provide two-way radio contact with spacecraft in deep space. The three are spaced so that continuous contact is possible. There is also one near Madrid and the third is Goldstone, near Barstow California. (Something for the California editor!)

Of course Mariner 4 was a success during the the Cold War, so back then it would have been a big propaganda coup to have the first successful Mars orbiter.