Mariner 9
Mariner 9 (Mariner Mars '71 / Mariner-I) was a robotic spacecraft that contributed greatly to the exploration of Mars and was part of the NASA Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971, from LC-36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and reached the planet on November 14 of the same year, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet – only narrowly beating the Soviet probes Mars 2 (launched May 19) and Mars 3 (launched May 28), which both arrived at Mars only weeks later.
The Mariner 9 spacecraft | |
| Mission type | Mars orbiter |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA / JPL |
| COSPAR ID | 1971-051A |
| SATCAT no. | 5261 |
| Mission duration | 1 year, 4 months and 26 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Launch mass | 997.9 kilograms (2,200 lb) |
| Dry mass | 558.8 kilograms (1,232 lb) |
| Power | 500 watts |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | May 30, 1971, 22:23:04 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas SLV-3C Centaur-D |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Decommissioned |
| Deactivated | October 27, 1972 |
| Decay date | Around October 2022 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Areocentric |
| Eccentricity | 0.6014 |
| Periareion altitude | 1,650 km (1,030 mi) |
| Apoareion altitude | 16,860 km (10,480 mi) |
| Inclination | 64.4 degrees |
| Period | 11.9 hours / 719.47 minutes |
| Epoch | 29 December 1971, 19:00:00 UTC |
| Mars orbiter | |
| Orbital insertion | November 14, 1971, 00:42:00 UTC |
After the occurrence of dust storms on the planet for several months following its arrival, the orbiter managed to send back clear pictures of the surface. Mariner 9 successfully returned 7,329 images over the course of its mission, which concluded in October 1972.