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The Mariner Mars 1971 spacecraft is a Mars orbiter which is fully attitude stabilized using the Sun and the star Canopus as the basic attitude references. The spacecraft's basic structrue is a 40-pound, 8 sided magnesium framework with eight electronic compartments. The electronic assembies fastened within the compartments provide structrual support to the spacecraft. The weight of the spacecraft is approximately 2200 pounds. The launch vehicle/spacecraft upper adapter weight is about 72 pounds. The spacecraft measures 8 feet from the separation plane to the top of the low-gain antenna and has a burn-out weight of approximately 1190 pounds. Its span is 22 feet 7-1/2 inches with the solar panels, each 84-1/2 inches long and 35-1/2 inches wide, are attached on outriggers to the octagon.
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Mariner 9 was launched from Cape Kennedy, Fla. at 6:23 p.m. EDT, May 30, 1971. At that time Mars was 63 million miles from Earth. On August 11, Mars will make its closest approach to Earth -- 34.9 million miles. Mariner's trip to Mars will take 167 days and it will cover 247 million miles in arching trajectory to the planet. Mariner will arrive at Mars on November 14, when the planet is 75.5 million miles from Earth.
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After a 248 million mile journey from Earth, Mariner 9 is shown going into orbit around Mars on November 13, 1971. This artist's concept shows Mariner in orbit around the Red Planet. Mariner will be the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more than 70% of the planet's surface and to study the temperature of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous fly-by spacecraft have reported.
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The towering volcanic mountain in this Mariner picture is Nix Olympica, approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles) across at its base. It is more than twice as broad as the most massive volcanic pile on Earth, the 225-kilometer (140-mile) wide mountain that forms the Hawaiian Islands. A large number of possible volcanic features have been identified on Mars, indicating that the planet may have or may have had a molten core.
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March 2, 1972
Four views of the Southern Pole cap of Mars showing it's seasonal shrinking. The photographs were taken by the Mariner 9 spacecraft from Mars orbit. In the 36-day period covered by the photographs the CO ice is vaporizing as evidence in the widening of separation and the breaking up of the large detached area which vanished by Day 29.
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June 13, 1972
A comparison of part of a Mariner 7 wide angle frame of noachis taken in orange light with a mosaic of Mariner 9 wide angle frames of the same region taken in orange light. It is evident that dark splotches have evolved in the 2-1/2 year interval between the two photographs. Mariner 9 is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more than 70% of the planet's surface and to study the temperature of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
Mariner 9 photo -- J2. Few craters on Mars are as reminiscent of lunar craters as the one seen in the lower right of this picture. Note the sharp raised rim and central peak.
| Latitude: | 30.9 N |
| Longitude: | 62.5 W |
| Dimensions: | 102 x 76 km (63 x 47 miles) |
| Range: | 3073 km (1905 mi) |
| Date: | Feb. 2, 1972 |
Mariner 9 is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more the 70% of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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June 13, 1972
This view of the central volcano along the Tharsis Ridge reveals a variety of surface features characteristics of this area. Linear volcanic vents are seen in the shield which slopes away from the summit caldera.
| Latitude: | 3.0 W |
| Longitude: | 111.5 W |
| Dimensions: | 505 x 390 km (313 x 242 miles) |
| Range: | 2126 km (1324 mi) |
| Date: | Jan. 30, 1972 |
Mariner 9 is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more the 70% of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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June 13, 1972
It was Winter in Northern Hemisphere of Mars during most of Mariner 9's mission. This picture shows Southern edge of clouds where flow of air over mountain ridge produces wave patterns.
| Latitude: | 43.3 W |
| Longitude: | 81.9 W |
| Dimensions: | 815 x 630 km (505 x 391 miles) |
| Range: | 3445 km |
| Date: | Feb. 19, 1972 |
Mariner 9 is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more the 70% of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
June 13, 1972
A long fault intersecting a crater resulted in this striking fracture pattern in the crater floor. Presumably the Mars crust was penetrated by the primary impact and formed a weaker surface covering the crater floor.
| Latitude: | 19.5 S |
| Longitude: | 155.3 W |
| Dimensions: | 399x307 km (247x190 mi) |
| Range: | 1687 km (1044 miles) |
| Orbit no: | 146 |
| Date: | Jan. 26, 1972 |
Mariner is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit ¥another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more than 70 per cent of the planet's surface and to study the temperature of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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June 13, 1972
Mariner 9 photo -- G2. On the opposite side of the planet from the massive volcanos is an area of smaller volcanic features. In this picture sinuous channels radiate away from a central caldera.
| Latitude: | 20.7 5 |
| Longitude: | 254.4 W |
| Dimensions: | 396 x 305 km (246 x 189 mi) |
| Orbit No: | 204 |
| Date: | Feb. 24, 1972 |
Mariner 9 is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more than 70% of the planet's surface and to study the temperature of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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June 13, 1972
This rimmed basin is reminiscent of lunar topography. The terrain surrounding the rim suggests debris thrown from an impact crater. The floor of the crater may be obscured by dust lingering in the Mars atmosphere at low altitudes.
| Latitude: | 55.2° S |
| Longitude: | 51.1° W |
| Dimensions: | 1320x1010 km (818 x 620 mi) |
| Range: | 5538 km (3433 mi) |
| Date: | Jan. 9, 1972 |
Mariner 9 is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more the 70% of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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June 15, 1972
Telephoto view of Martian canyons show slumping of plateau material into the valleys and the jumbled character of the valley floors. Rock outcrops are clearly visible at the top of the walls above the steep slopes.
| Latitude: | 7.3° S |
| Longitude: | 87.1° W |
| Dimensions: | 58x43 km (38x27 mi) |
| Range: | 1738 km (1078 mi) |
| Date: | Feb. 2, 1972 |
Mariner 9 is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more the 70% of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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June 13, 1972
No familiar process on Earth could have produced this web of partially closed valleys. The Mars crust appears to have either collapsed along a network of fractures or erosional processes have preferentially removed material along the fractures.
| Latitude: | 8.5° S |
| Longitude: | 96.8° W |
| Dimensions: | 410x315 km (254x195 mi) |
| Range: | 1730 km (1073 mi) |
| Date: | Feb. 1, 1972 |
Mariner 9 is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more the 70% of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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June 15, 1972
Wide-angle view of Martian canyons show slumping of plateau material into the valleys and the jumbled character of the valley floors. Rock outcrops are clearly visible at the top of the walls above the steep slopes.
| Latitude: | 6.7° S |
| Longitude: | 85° W |
| Dimensions: | 62x46 km (38x28.5 mi) |
| Range: | 1858 km (1151 mi) |
| Date: | March 3, 1972 |
Mariner 9 is the first U.S. Spacecraft to orbit another planet. Its mission is to take television pictures of Mars to map more the 70% of the Martian surface and the composition and pressure of its atmosphere. Television pictures also will be taken of Mars' two moons -- Phobos and Deimos. Mariner's orbit around Mars is planned to be with a high point of 10,700 miles and a low point of 750 miles. It will circle Mars every twelve hours. In all, Mariner is expected to return to Earth more than 15 times the amount of information that previous flyby spacecraft have reported.
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Mariner 9
December 29, 1971
This striking view of the surface of Mars was taken by Mariner 9 during the spacecraft's 67th orbit of the planet and is unlike any other Martian view yet obtained. Three weeks earlier, this area -- Phoenicis Lacus -- was hidden from view by the great dust storm. This plateau lies bout 3 1/2 miles above the mean elevation on Mars. Lower areas are still hidden by the dust. The few craters indicate that the surface is relatively young and possibly may be covered by volcanic deposits and later broken by faults that cut the rocks into mosaic-fragments. The fault valleys are about 1 1/2 miles across. As the dust storm clears, more of the surface will come into view. This picture was taken from an altitude of 4,000 miles on December 17. North is at the top. The center of the picture is 17.5 degrees south of the Martian equator.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
A 43-mile wide Martian crater (top) was photographed by Mariner 9 during its 65th revolution of the planet. The crater, possibly a volcanic collapse caldera similar to many found on Earth, is located near Mars' Pavonis Lacus a few degrees north of the equator. Surrounding terrain detail was obscured by atmospheric dust when the picture was taken on December 16. Earth-based radar indicates the crater lies on an area several miles higher than the mean Martian elevation. The white rectangle inscribes the area seen in the lower telephoto, taken by Mariner's high-resolution camera on December 22. The ridges (bottom) are similar to lunar mare ridges. On the moon, they are commonly inferred to be breaks in the crust, along which extension of lava has taken place. A similar inference may be made for Mars. Both pictures have been enhanced by computer processing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
January 9, 1972
Martian Canyonlands, part of a 120,000 square kilometer complex in Noctis Lacus on the northern edge of the Solis Lacus region, were photographed by the Mariner 9 orbiting spacecraft from about 5050 miles (8150 kilometers) during its 69th circuit of the planet. The canyons, about 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 kilometers) wide, have smooth floors and are separated from one another by flat surfaced plateaus of mesas. The canyons may be 1/2 to 1 1/4 miles (1 to 2 kilometers) deep and the walls slope about 10 to 15 degrees. The gross dimensions of this Mars feature may be likened to those of the Grand Canyon in the western United States. The curving segments of the canyon walls appear to consist partly of incomplete craters, locally cut across the canyon floors. The linear segments of the canyon walls are roughly parallel to one another. These observations suggest that the canyons are of structural origin but the intricate fluting of the walls indicate erosional modification. North is at top of picture, which covers an area about 66 to 84 miles (105 by 136 kilometers). The photograph was enhanced by computer processing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
January 11, 1972
Extraordinary pits and hollows, never before seen on Mars, were photographed on January 6 by the orbiting Mariner 9 spacecraft. Located about 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the Martian South Pole, these features pose some provocative questions about the geological processes which have shaped the landforms of the polar region. The two large closed basins, at left, are about 10 miles (16 kilometers) across. The small pits are one to two miles (1 1/2 to 3 kilometers) in diameter. Unlike collapse features resulting from volcanic withdrawal, these hollows exhibit no interior terraces. Conceivably, these structures may have resulted from the thawing of large accumulations of ground ice. Another possibility is that they are deflation hollows developed by wind action in loosely consolidated materials. The picture was taken with Mariner 9' high resolution TV camera from a range of 2072 miles (3343 kilometers) during orbit 108.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
January 11, 1972
The first clear view of rilles, or cracks, in the Martian crust was seen by the telephoto lens of Mariner 9 on January 7 as the spacecraft made its 109th revolution of the planet. These structures are part of a system of parallel fissures extending more than 1100 miles (1800 kilometers) along the Martian surface. Although rilles are common on the Moon, none compares in length with this Martian feature. The widest rille, at upper left, is about a mile across and contains a shallower rille in its floor. Lunar rilles have been interpreted generally as tensional features produced by stretching of the upper rock layers. The same origin seems probable for these similarly appearing Martian features. The picture was taken from a distance of 1072 miles (1730 kilometers) and covers an area 21 miles (34 kilometers) high by 26 miles (43 kilometers) across in Mars' Mare Sirenum.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
January 11, 1972
Nested pictures of Mars' Nix Olympica region, taken January 7 by Mariner 9, appear far less obscured by atmospheric dust than those taken of the same area during the spacecraft's earlier orbits of the planet. The two pictures were taken five minutes apart during the 109th orbit. At top is a wide-angle (11 by 14 field of view) frame showing an area 271 miles by 346 miles. The lower telephoto picture (1.1 by 1.4) across covers an area 27 miles by 34 1/2 miles. It can be located within the inscribed rectangle at top. The complex of craters in the wide-angle frame appears to sit atop a broad plateau, the lobate edge of which is seen at right center. The narrow angle picture (bottom) shows intricate surface detail not seen in previous telephoto picture of the same region. The feathery texture and the many small intersecting elongated lobes suggest flowage of material downslope and away form the central crater complex. A raised ridge, with an irregular crack running along its crest, can be seen at top center. Collectively, these features are similar in appearance to those seen on terrestrial lava flows.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
An intricate network of mighty canyons appears to hang like a giant chandelier from the Martian equator in a picture taken by Mariner 9 on January 10. This photo, which covers an area 542 kilometers wide by 426 kilometers high (336 by 264 miles), provides dramatic evidence of erosional processes at work on the fractured volcanic table lands of Mars' Noctis Lacus.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
January 27, 1972
A probable Martian shield volcano, informally called "Middle Spot" -- the central of three dark spots seen protruding above the raging dust storm by Mariner 9 on earlier orbits -- was photographed with far greater clarity of January 10. These two frames were taken six minutes apart during Mariner 9's 117th orbit of Mars from a distance of 1950 kilometers (1209 miles). Picture at top was taken with Mariner's wide-angle, medium-resolution camera. The inscribed rectangle shows the same area photographed by the telephoto lens (bottom). The summit crater, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) across, and the grooves farther down the flank probably were produced by subsidence following subsurface movement of volcanic flank is splattered with impact craters with raised rims. The smooth crater floor, which meets the wall abruptly, is probably a former lava lake. The crater walls are scarred vertically where loose material has slid downslope and has been removed by the Martian wind. Just as on Earth, the relentless forces of nature attack and eventually wear down all objects exposed to them.
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Mariner 9- Mars
February 2, 1972
This complex pattern of delicate swirls and irregular dark blotches, which cloaks the unusual terrain of Mars' south polar region, provides an exquisite example of the interplay between a number of mystifying geological processes. Mariner 9 took this picture on January 22, during its 140th orbit of the planet, from a distance of 4015 kilometers (2490 miles). Area covered is about 80 by 100 kilometers (50 by 62 miles) and is located at about 80 degrees south latitude. Sunlight is from upper left. The albedo-reflected-light -- boundary (top center) is very unusual as it displays no apparent correlation to the local topography. Dark splotches at lower left, right center and bottom center are on the floors of surface depressions.
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Mariner 9 - Mars
Feb. 24, 1972
This mosaic of two photographs of the Tithonius Lacus region on Mars taken by the Mariner 9 spacecraft revealed a canyon four times as deep as the Grand Canyon in Arizona when the pictures were compared with pressure measurements taken by the ultraviolet spectrometer experiment aboard the spacecraft. The white arrow at left points to the Martian canyon estimated to be 19,700 feet deep. Earth's Grand Canyon is 5500 feet deep. The width of the Martian canyon is 75 miles, the Grand Canyon is 13 miles wide. The jagged line at bottom represents pressure measurements, taken by the ultraviolet instrument, which are translated into distances. The dotted line through the picture is the instruments' scan path across the surface. The vast chasms and branching canyons represent a landform evolution apparently unique to Mars. Subsidence along lines of weakness in the crust and sculpturing by winds are believed to have formed the features. The photographs were taken with the wide angle camera aboard the spacecraft from an altitude of 1070 miles and cover an area 400 miles across. North is to the right. The two arrows at right also relate low points to the ultraviolet measurements.
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NASA Image #: MTVS 4109-9
Mariner 9 image of the Martian satellite Phobos taken from 5760 km. Mariner
9 provided the first good views of Phobos. The moon is about 26 km across
its longest dimension. Craters as small as 300 m are visible in this image.